Avengers: Anubis Among Us
by Emersonian
Summary: (Personal idea on 6th Infinity Stone) Right when Thor returns from Ragnarok, he and the other divided Avengers learn that the 6th Infinity Stone, the Soul Gem, is the Eye of Ra guarded by Anubis, the god of mummification. Alliances will have to be made to prevent the evil Seth, Anubis' father, from gaining the Eye of Ra and spreading chaos on Earth. Note: MCU does not belong to me.
1. The Prologue of Bast

Chapter 1: The Prologue of Bast

Long before life ever came into what is now our universe, cosmic deities gathered to unite their powers that would eventually destroy them and spread the existence of planets and living creatures. Whatever was left of the deities solidified themselves into six stones that each hold energy holding the values of existence: space, reality, power, mind, time, and soul. These stones were called Infinity Stones.

Unfortunately, when not held properly, the stones could unleash destructible energy that can destroy both their users or the people and environments around them. The stones could only be used properly either if the user was powerful enough to hold them or if he used some way to wield the stones without touching them physically, lest he burned to oblivion.

Seeing that the Infinity Stones were far too dangerous, the most powerful but responsible beings in the universe decided that the best way to keep further chaos was to hide the gems from any greedy hands. Those beings handed the gems to six different powerful leaders of six different civilizations or groups that devoted the rest of their lives into ensuring that nobody got their hands on the Infinity Stones for dark purposes.

The first stone, the Space Stone, had the power of opening portals in-between worlds. It was put under the supervision of Odin the king of Asgard, who forged it into a cube called the Tesseract that he hid away in a human church, thinking that the enemies of Asgard would never find it there.

The second stone, the Reality Stone, could turn matter into dark matter. Originally turned into a liquid called the Aether and guarded by dark elves, it had to be locked away in an unknown location during the war opposing Bor from Asgard and Malekith the power-hungry dark elf.

The third stone, the Power Stone, granted the user an unlimited amount of destructive energy capable of killing a planet. It was sealed in an orb and guarded in a temple on the planet of Morag.

The fourth stone, the Mind Stone, could either emit energy blasts for physical attacks or allow the user to control the mind of others. As far as we know, the Mind Stone was said to be under the supervision of a Titan race that kept it in a scepter wielded by its kings.

The fifth stone, the Time Stone, granted the user the capacity to control time. It is currently held in the Eye of Agamotto, an amulet guarded by Earth's mystical sorcerers. The last time I heard about the stone, it had been used by Doctor Strange to keep Dormammu from invading the humans.

And finally, the part you were waiting for. The sixth stone. The Soul Stone. It is the most unpredictable of the six Infinity Stones, for it allows the user to give or take any soul he pleases. The stone had been given to my people's very first king and god, Ra the almighty god of the Sun. He used his grand powers to turn the stone into a glowing rotating disk that became the Eye of Ra, and with it, he created the very first of our people out of the rays that it unleashed. Mortals call us ancient Egyptians, but we preferred to be referred to as _Rapharions,_ because Ra was our godly city's very first pharaoh. As he built our city, he constructed a pyramid temple at the top of his palace, where he rested the Eye of Ra at the very top, allowing it to illuminate the city with endless sunlight and promising a prosperous life for all the immortal lords and ladies and mortal slaves who lived under its light.

Many centuries had passed until the city was finally finished and the mortal world began to worship us. By that time, Ra decided to allow the Eye of Ra to decide on who should take the responsibility of guarding the Eye between his two existing grandsons and heirs to the throne, Osiris and Seth. He held a ceremony and, before the eyes of every citizen, the Eye of Ra shone like the rising sun and let its first ray touch Osiris as its chosen protector. Osiris became the god of the afterlife and the king of the Rapharions, earning the love and respect of all his citizens and the mortals that he led to the heavenly afterlife.

But Seth grew jealous of his brother being favored over him, so he stole the Eye of Ra from the temple one night and used it to rip Osiris' body and souls that he spread all over Egypt. It took years for Osiris' wife, Queen Isis, and the Rapharions to collect the remains of the king, but by the time they did, Osiris returned in time to see Seth unable to wield the Eye's angry sentience that plunged half the city into chaos and destruction. After Osiris defeated Seth in a duel and returned the Eye of Ra back to its place and the city back in one piece, the angry Ra banished Seth into desert parallel prison where not even the sands of time could tell the evil god how long he had been imprisoned.

Tired by what had happened, Ra decided to go into an eternal slumber, but before he did, he casted a spell on the Eye of Ra, ensuring that it would not make the same mistake of confusing _king_ with _protector._ Centuries passed and Osiris ruled over the Rapharions while Seth was stuck in his prison. The only one allowed to go from visiting Seth to visiting her royal in-laws was Seth's wife, Nephtys the Goddess of mourning. She was Isis' sister, therefore allowing her to spend time in the palace with her while not visiting her husband in his prison.

One visit, however, Osiris decided to give his brother a humiliating reminder of his treason, so he assaulted Nephtys in her sleep, and when she came back to Seth, he was infuriated to see her pregnant from his brother. Seth instantly disintegrated the baby, and as punishment, he destroyed any fetus that was growing in Nephtys' womb, even if they were his children. Miserable, Nephtys swore that she'd sacrifice her life to get her next child. The moment she found out she was yet again pregnant from Seth, she did not return to him and stayed at Isis' domain until she bore her child. Knowing she'd have to return to Seth, Nephtys pleaded Isis to take her son for her. Isis, having already giving birth to her firstborn Horus just recently but not liking how he already reminded her of her husband, gladly accepted and lovingly adopted the child while Nephtys left to meet her death at the hands of Seth.

Osiris was of course unhappy about Isis adopting Seth's son without his permission, but because it was too late to change the motherly love Isis developed on the child, he reluctantly let her keep him and name him Anubis.

Just then, the Eye of Ra shone just like it did when Osiris was chosen to be its protector. Thinking that Horus would be chosen just like his father was, everyone gathered for yet another ceremony, but their excitement disappeared when the light did not shine on the beloved king's firstborn but on the brute that Isis kept holding in her arms. Nobody liked the fact that Seth's son was chosen to protect the Eye of Ra, but what could be done? Osiris instantly lost his connection to the relic as it decided to tether its energy to the small child that was Anubis.

As the years went on and the Rapharions grew in numbers, worshipped by the believers, Anubis became what he is now known as the god of mummification and the souls' guide to Osiris' judgment, but no matter how much he tried to prove his commitment to the city, his duty as a god and the protector of the Eye of Ra, he only received fear from the mortals and hatred from the Rapharions. In the eyes of mortals, he was Death leading them to possible Hell, and to the other Rapharions, he was just Seth's son. It didn't matter to them if Anubis had more compassion and curiosity for mortals and loyalty to the city, they hated him regardless. Only his adopted mother Isis and his teacher Maat genuinely cared for him.

But the Sands of Time have run out, and sensing that Seth would be freed from his prison and go after the Eye of Ra, Isis went against Osiris and ordered Anubis to flee the city with the Eye of Ra to keep it away from his creator's clutches. Unfortunately, by goading Anubis into running away with the Eye of Ra, Isis inadvertently caused the city to be unprotected by Seth's forces. Barely any of the Rapharions have managed to escape the destruction that has followed from what I know. But what is certain is this: Seth won't rest until he finds Anubis and retrieves the Eye of Ra.

 _Present_

"So Anubis has the Eye of Ra?"

"Yes! I mean, come on! I just bothered to give you a lecture on the Infinity Stones, their locations, and the fact that Seth is after the sixth one, and all you can think of is 'Anubis has the Eye of Ra'?"

Frankly Thor wished he hadn't come back to Earth in a time of crisis. After two years of being away from Earth, he and Banner returned to find the Avengers divided in half over taking responsibilities for the Sokovia. Thor had Banner stay with Heimdall, who was guarding the other Asgardians in the spaceship they had just arrived in, because the latter foretold that there was an enemy that Banner did not want to see. And after encountering Secretary Ross forcing the Asgardian king into acknowledging the Sokovia Accords the moment he arrived at the compound, he understood why.

And then the arrival of Bast did not help. The Rapharion had instantly been labeled as a threat and Ross demanded her arrest if she wouldn't agree to the stupid page stack, but Thor was thankful that Vision had managed to convince the annoying Secretary and the other divided Avengers to let Bast speak to Thor so that he could hear her cause. Naturally, Thor was aware that the room they were in had cameras and recordings, but as long as the mortals didn't physically bug them, they'd be fine.

"How long has it been since Seth returned and vanquished your city?" Thor asked Bast.

"Unfortunately right after the Vienna bombing," Bast coughed. "That was a good year ago."

"Seth's been out there for a _year_? You must be lucky to have survived!"

"Hardly! With the Eye of Ra gone, the Rapharions have lost their supply on ambrosia and nectar as well as their city's protection..." She coughed even more and began to collapse on her chair. Thor caught her before she could fall. "Find Anubis... Keep Seth away from the..." Bast coughed one last time before eventually disintegrating into a pile of sand that dissolved into the air like a ghostly stretching cat that disappeared into oblivion.

Thor sighed and stepped out of the room, running into a waiting Vision in the hallway. " _I do hope that is not a way to die among the immortals_ ," Vision said in an apologetic tone.

"No, it's just common among Rapharions," Thor shook his head.

" _At least Bast has given suitable information on the Infinity Stones' capacities and locations. Now all we need to figure out is where the sixth is,_ " Vision said. They walked down the hallway and ended up in the conference room of the compound. The two factions of Avengers were there, including the annoying old man.

"I'm sorry about your comrade," Steve said sincerely as Thor sat down on the nearest empty chair.

"She was dehydrated, starving, and exposed when I found her." Thor shook his head. "Without her normal godly food, she would have died anyway. The only thing that I know is that I have to find Anubis before Seth does."

"But where can he be?" Natasha asked. "It's a big world..."

"And I know who can help me find him." Thor instantly got off his seat until he found Ross giving him a halting hand gesture. "What now?"

"What gives you the right to decide on how to handle the situation?" The man asked sharply. "In case you forgot, the Avengers are now government-handled and thus will follow our demands on how to approach the situation without damage..."

"In my defense, you've already caused damage with the Sokovia Accords and Banner has told me about what you did in Harlem," Thor said firmly. "Besides, Anubis has a bad history of superiors and worshippers hating him despite everything he's done for them. You forcing him to sign your silly papers will anger him. I'm sorry if this does not appeal to you, but I will meet with him with my neutral connections and outside your ridiculous demands." He pushed aside Ross' hand and made his way out. He looked one more time at his old teammates with his one eye. "I'm sorry, but I cannot be a part of divided Avengers. Good-bye."

At least he went out the front door and flew away in a bolt of lightning without messing the lawn, reassuring Tony Stark.

"So how do we find a jackal headed god with an Infinity Stone running around in seven different continents?" Rhodey asked casually.

 _Mediansburg, a small ignored town in the Midwest, a year ago_

She had no idea what the Hell just broke into her barn, but Marion had no intention of waiting to find out. After grabbing her father's old rifle from the broom closest, she went through the back door and cautiously made her way to the barn. The cold wind of this particular April night stung her skin even though she wore a baggy, but comfy sweatshirt.

The moment she got to the door, she pushed it in slow motion in order to avoid getting whatever went inside to be alerted by the door's creek. After a good minute or two of carefully opening the door, she stepped in, her father's rifle in hand. So far she only saw the familiar stuff that never changed since her parents' death. The haystacks, the small woodcarving workshop, the old red tractor... Everything looked normal until she heard a loud horse cry and she saw her family horse, Moonlight, kicking on the pen as if to get out.

"Easy, girl!" Marion quickly calmed down the horse by gently caressing it on the neck. The mare calmed down but kept hitting on the pen's door. Marion opened the small wooden door to see what the mare wanted, and the latter instantly got out and stood behind the girl. Marion, in the meantime, was busy aiming the rifle out of shock at the thing that had managed to get inside the pen, probably frightening the horse.

It was young man, roughly appearing to be five or six years older than her. His skin looked like a rich mix of coffee beans and beach sand that clashed with the bloody scratches he had (oddly enough, his blood was golden instead of red, but that didn't improve things), his raven black hair was all tangled, wet, and messed with twigs and leaves, and whatever remains he had of his white outfit was reduced to rags. His hands and feet were dark and bruised and his nails were sharp but chipped. His striking golden eyes with black pupils looked like he was hopelessly tired and his muscles and chest were heaving up and down while insanely sweating. The only thing that looked...like it wasn't traumatized, was the large necklace that stuck to his collarbones and wielded this giant glowing orange disk with Egyptian falcon wings attached to the sides. The gem literally emitted a glow that made Marion feel like it was a giant eyeball glaring at her.

"I'm sorry..." The man said. "I... didn't see the harm of...resting in the barn... for the evening." He was constantly trying to catch his breath and calm down. Marion took pity and lowered the rifle.

"How long have you been running?" She asked.

"I lost track of time..." He confessed as he tried to sit upstraight. "I don't even know where I am..."

"You're in Mediansburg, the most ignored town in the Midwest of the United States."

He just stared at her, his eyes widening as he digested the information. He was almost going to lose it until Marion quickly grabbed a blanket that was stacked in the woodcarving workshop and brought it back to the man. "Thank you," he said as he covered himself with it, trying to shield as much of his bare skin as he could.

"Look, I don't know who you're running from, but you could definetly use a bath," Marion said. "Luckily for you, I have some leftover soup and some of my dad's old clothes hanging around in the closet."

 _Minutes later_

For someone who looked like he ran through the woods for hours, the man didn't take a long time to wash himself up. After she brought inside her cottage and led him to her parents' old bathroom, she went downstairs to heat up the chicken and lentil soup she purchased from the market earlier today. While she heated up the soup, she listening to the running water upstairs and noticed that the man was mostly muttering to himself. It was probably only four minutes once she heard the water stop running, and by the time she put the bowl full of soup for him on the kitchen's small table five minutes later, he came back downstairs, fully cleaned and dressed in her father's old black yellow plaid shirt, lumberjack jeans, and boots. His hair, though still wet, was brushed enough to make him look like Dev Patel's hot twin. If it weren't for the fact that his necklace on top of the shirt contradicted his now casual look... and the eyes...

"I hope I'm not too... startling," he spoke with concern as he stepped inside the kitchen.

"Well, aside from the trinket on your neck, you look fine," Marion said. "You might want to tuck it in. If it's authentic, you could get it mugged."

"Your concern is appreciating, but a mugger would just burn to a crisp if he touched it." He sat down on the nearest chair. "Besides, keeping it hidden caused my tunic to burn while I was running. The last thing I want is to burn your father's clothes..." He looked around the kitchen before looking back at Marion. "Are you certain your parents won't mind you hosting a complete stranger in the middle of the night?"

"No, they won't..." Marion shook her head silently. She filled up two glasses of water and brought them over to the table. "They won't mind since... they're dead." The young man froze before he could dip his spoon into the warm soup. "My mom should have known better than to beg my dad into taking her to this artisan fest in the big city while the road was icy. Three days later, right on the first day of school after the Christmas holiday, I get accosted by a cop right when classes are over and he tells me that they took a wrong turn and fell into a ravine." She sighed. "Luckily I have a rich friend who managed to pull a few strings so that I could keep living in my home and avoid being drafted in the foster system."

"I'm... sorry," he said. He gulped down his soup the same way a kid was trying to hide his face in guilt when his parents ask him what grade he got on his math test and the kid acts like he caused the apocalypse.

"Are you a superhero or something?" Marion blurted out. "Because with that thing on your neck, you definetly don't look like one of the guys I occasionally run into on the street..."

"Believe me, if you knew who I was, you'd think I was anything but a hero." The man shook his head. "I could try to be as compassionate towards humanity as I want to, but they fear me as much as my comrades hated me."

Marion just stood there, looking at him until she concluded in a deadpan tone: "You had a bad childhood that crushed your confidence, haven't you?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Hey, I may have suffered from losing my parents a while now, but I can tell when I see someone with severe trauma." She drank from her cup while he finished his soup. Her eyes turned to this framed map of Mediansburg that her parents kept hanging by the window and she pointed a finger at it. "You see that? That's an old relic from my mom's family back when Mediansburg was founded in the pioneers' era. At that time, nobody could figure out on which state in the Midwest the small patch of land would belong to, but eventually it got ignored as the Western expansion continued. With everyone interested in places like Hollywood, Vegas..."

"The big cities," the man nodded.

"Yeah." Marion shrugged as she kept looking at the map. "Mediansburg was still the smallest, most ignored town in the US. Men who dared to go to World War II never returned, the youth that got sick of being farmers never returned... In the end, the town became what it is now. An isolated town for the maximum of fifty people who either want nothing to do with the outside world or just want to live a peaceful life."

The man sighed in relief, the gem on his necklace slightly glowing in secondary action with him. "In that case, I am secured in here."

"Why?" Marion asked. "Are you being hunted down by the government?"

"I should hope not," he said. He put his hand on his necklace's golden trimmings and cautiously showed her the gem on it. "There's a bad person I know who wants to do something bad with this gem called the Eye of Ra. I had to run away from home in order to keep him from getting a hold of it." Marion got interested but still kept her distance. "The Eye of Ra can give life to things, but it can also take it. If Seth... I mean, the bad person I know, gets a hold of it again..."

" _Again_?" Marion frowned.

"Well it happened once, but that was before I was born!" He said in defense.

"Yeah, you're Anubis aren't you?"

"How did you know?" He froze in his seat. The gem reacted by sending an orange blast at the empty bowl of soup, turning it into an animated bowl that made its own way to the sink without even chipping itself. Marion chuckled at the scene while Anubis covered his mouth in embarrassment.

"Well let me see," she giggled as she leaned on the chair, "you hide yourself in my horse's pen, you burned a tunic, you wear an Egyptian necklace with a gem that you call the Eye of Ra, and you quickly caught yourself when you called the bad person 'Seth'. And knowing from my mom's bedtime stories, Anubis was the son of Seth and since you had a traumatic childhood, it was probably because nobody liked you for being his kid."

"Yeah." Anubis grumbled as he slouched on the chair. "Story of my life."

"But if you're related to the guy who wants to steal the Eye of Ra," Marion said as she brought her glass to the sink where the sentient bowl was having a bubble bath, "doesn't he know that you have it?"

"I should hope not." Anubis snapped a finger at the bowl, returning it back into being inanimate under Marion's thankful eye. "Seth was imprisoned after he tried to use the Eye to rule upon my home. It was Isis who raised me after my mother Nephtys abandoned me to avoid dealing with my father. I never met him, but I'm assuming he probably heard the rumors. Anubis, god of mummification and chosen protector of the Eye of Ra, hated by everyone except his adopted mother Isis because he is the son of Seth the god of deserts and chaos."

"That's unfair," Marion said in pity. She dried the dishes and put them back in the cabinets. When she turned, she saw that Anubis was looking drowsy. "Look, you're far away from Seth, and like you said, you're safe here in Mediansburg. Feel free to stay as long as necessary."

"Thank you..." Anubis nodded until he saw her poking his nose with a daring, but firm finger.

"But let me make it clear, Anubis!" She said sharply. "I got two conditions that you need to follow. First, as long as you are _my_ guest and in _my_ house in _my_ town, you follow orders, and second, don't use your powers unless it's for dire emergencies! I don't want the Avengers or the government to start harassing me because I have a god for a guest! OK?"

"I have understood your terms and I promise to keep my caution and powers in check... if you promise to not touch the Eye of Ra." Anubis gently pushed her finger away and used his to point at his amulet.

"Hey, I'm not your housekeeper!" Marion warned. "I'm not going to polish it for you. You're a big boy... Wait, how old are you?"

"Old enough to know that twenty-first century women hate oppression imposed by the male species so I'm going to be a very nice puppy?" He said sheepishly.

"Uh." Marion nodded in approval while Anubis got off his chair and gently pushed it back in place like he was afraid to break it into pieces. "You know, for a god who doesn't get much respect and makes his epic arrival in this century, you're actually decent."

"I guess." Anubis shrugged. "I mean... I'm really content with your hospitality, but I don't deserve this..."

"Well you could always sleep in the barn rather than a nice warm bed..." Marion rolled her eyes.

"Never mind, I deserve it!" Anubis followed her like an automaton out of the kitchen and back up the stairs leading in the bedroom areas.

"You can sleep in my parents' room, but..."

"OK, I know I'm a god, but that doesn't mean I'm a ravisher!" He shocked her by guessing what she was going to say. "And honestly, you should watch out. People could be culturally offended or think you're discriminatory!"

"Sorry." Marion lowered her head. "I'm... new at this."

"I get it," Anubis admitted before going back to seriousness. "But seriously, never touch the Eye of Ra!" He pointed a finger at it. "It takes extremely great power to wield it, but if a mortal or a completely week individual touches it directly with nothing to protect the flesh, it's a one way ticket to death." He bit his lip. "The amount of daring mortals I've seen crazy enough to try stealing it burned to such a crisp, their souls even got burned..."

"How does a soul burn? I thought souls were like... spiritual?" Marion waved her hands above her heart.

"It's just a way of saying that even I, the mummification god and the protector of the Eye, can't collect the souls." Anubis shook his head right when Marion opened the door to his temporary bedroom. "Their souls are instantly erased from existence. They're damned before I can even bring them to the final judgment. It's like they never even existed."

Marion's eyes looked at him with pure sympathy. "How could the other gods hate you so much for being Seth's kid, they'd leash you with such a curse of protecting the Eye?"

"They didn't want to. The Eye of Ra chose me for the job." He sighed and went inside the room. "I thank you again for your generosity."

"Sure. I'll... see you in the morning." Marion gently closed the door, leaving him to get some sleep. She didn't stay long to check if he was sleeping, but judging how she heard what sounded like mutt snores, she assumed that he finally got some sleep. She herself went to her bedroom and rushed to her bunk bed, but before she fell asleep, she grabbed the framed picture that rested on the nightstand. It was a picture of her, as a child, with her parents on Independence Day years ago.

"Mom, Dad," she prayed. "If you believe in chances, than please beg the Lord that Anubis will get a better chance at life."


	2. The Arrival of Seth

Chapter 2: The Arrival of Seth

 _Pyramids of Giza, present day Egypt_

"Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you all for coming to witness the splendor of the pyramid of Giza!"

It seemed to be a normal day for Egypt. European and American tourists were flooding out of the bus and following the tour guide on this hot day of June. After all, who wouldn't be excited to see one of the wonders of the world, this symbol of ancient culture? To think that right now, they were visiting the location of several pharaohs' burials.

"Mommy! Mommy!" A kid was shaking his mother's skirt while his father was taking pictures of the pyramid.

"Now, sweetie, don't interrupt the guide!" She scolded her child.

"But mommy, why's the pointy thing dark?"

The child pointing at the pyramid of Giza caught everyone's attention. As the sun hit the top of the pyramid, the tourists noticed that the tip was suddenly turning black, and like oil in water, it spread down the pyramid. Once it left the now stained pyramid, it hit the sandy grown. A ripple blew all around it, making some of the tourists scream.

"Somebody call the police!" The tour guide shouted. "I think we have a Code Red!"

The wind of sand turned into a violent black twister that only lasted a couple seconds. When it ended, the tourists saw a patch of black sand moving upward, forming a liquid goop that turned into a humanoid shape. The child from earlier hid behind his mother while his mother shielded the latter.

Sunrays made the black sand shine on the body, causing it to brighten... and bring forth a man. It was hard to tell what his natural skin color was because every inch of his skin, even the skin on his eyes, was covered with hieroglyphic tattoos that ranged from a bloody red to a pitch black cut. He was rather muscular and wore a red robe with black motifs of a strange devilish animal barbarically feasting on humans. His feet, bare and scarred, were resting on the burning sand.

The man took a deep breath and opened his eyes, frightening the tourists as they saw that they were wilder than his tattoos: the colors always changed from blood red to pitch black.

"Free at last..." He said. His voice sounded deep and raspy, like he had spent years sucking the last breaths out of every other corpse he ran into. He lifted his head and sneered at the tour group. "Am I ever lucky. I just got freed from my prison, eradicated all the other gods, and I get a _human_ sacrifice!"

They gasped in horror. "Sir, we bear no ill will, but who are you?" The tour guide asked.

The man snorted. "What mortal bears no ill will to me?" He suddenly dissolved back into sand and reappeared before the tour guide. The startled man had no time to scream, for the mysterious one clutched him by the skull and started to combust him, turning him into an armored humanoid with the same head as the animal on his robe. He let go. The animal instantly attacked the nearest tourist, and the next thing you knew, all the tourists were being mercilessly bitten by the beasts and turning into exact replicas. The child's parents tried to make a run for it, but the least they could do is hide their child under the bus. The poor creature, despite his small age, managed to not scream and reveal to the new ignorant army that he was still alive and in one piece as he watched his transformed parents and the other tourists line up and kneel before the mysterious man.

"Hear me well, my new army of the Black Sand! You now serve me, the almighty Seth, and will aid me in my quest! You shall help me retrieve what is rightfully mine, and I guarantee you human feasts when I remake this world into my image!"

The 'army' roared like a pack of vicious animals. "Now go!" Seth barked. "Searched all of Egypt and the rest of the lands! Do not return until you have located Anubis!"

They hollowed and turned into the full-sized animals they now became. As the pack dispersed into different angles and disappeared into the horizons, Seth turned back into a trail of black sand that slithered back into the stained pyramid. Once he made sure that everything was safe, the kid tried off his tears and pushed himself from underneath the bus. He walked over to the open doors and stepped inside, where he found a nice sitting spot near the AC. Once he made sure that nothing was in sight out in the desert, he pulled out a gray cellphone with a golden logo on it and dialed a number. Once the ringing was done, he got an answer. " _Agent Hasani? Is something wrong?_ "

"Big time bad," Hasani shook his head. "Seth is finally back in the world. He just turned a group full of mortals, and my folks, into a set animal headed army."

" _Are you sure_?" The person on the other end of the line said in a worried tone.

"I confirm." Hasani nodded. He looked back at the window with the best view of the pyramid of Giza. "He even made one of Egypt's best landmarks suffer a bad case of laundry stains. Oh, and he just hid back in the pyramid while he sent his new dogs to find Anubis."

" _Shit_." The other line cussed. " _Report immediately back to headquarters. I know it's against the rules, but it looks like we'll have to reach out to the American branch._ "

 _Mediansburg, a year ago._

Morning rays of sunlight hit Marion on the face despite the blinds covering her window. A groan escaped her lips as she kicked the sheets off her legs and jumped out of her bed. Her hand grabbed the string to pull up the blinds... and she saw a black jackal running around for no reason in the field. And judging by the Eye of Ra resting on its neck, she assumed that it was Anubis being a morning bird, but in dog form.

She shook her head in amusement and quickly put on some cleaner clothes. You'd think that after all the insane running he did last night before landing in Marion's barn, he'd be oversleeping.

She grabbed her bag and raced down the stairs before making it outside. Anubis was now amusing himself by rolling on the grass as if it were one giant green rug. It was rather intriguing, seeing the jackal dog actually behaving like a dog when in animal form. This caused Marion to play a teasing trick: she put her index and middle finger on her lips and gave a sharp whistle. Anubis instantly brought his head up in annoyance, contrasting Marion giggling.

"I see you're alert," she said. The god looked deadpan at her and walked out of the field.

"You know, my ears are more sensitive when I'm in jackal form." Marion's eyes widened when she saw the canine's mouth open and comprehensible words coming out of it. Guess what, Anubis could talk whenever he was a jackal. "So please, never use that annoying whistle on me unless it's for a dire emergency."

"Sorry." Marion apologized. Anubis inhaled deeply and stood on his hind legs. By the time he exhaled, he morphed back into his human appearance, still dressed in the same clothes Marion had offered him last night. Evidently, he had gotten enough sleep to replenish himself, but he still looked like he relived another traumatic event.

"Anyway, I need to go to town to make some errands. Want to come? I know a nice diner where I mostly go for breakfast," she said.

"Depends on the distance," he said. "If it's a good hour away, I'd need to morph back into a jackal..." He stopped when he saw Marion looking at him in disbelief.

"It's a small town, Anubis. I think you can survive doing a ten minute walk from here." She started making her way to the dirt road. Anubis followed her in his human form.

"I'm sorry for bothering you," he said as they used the road to cross the forest, making the air smell like an aroma of leaves and mud. "It's just that I've never interacted with mortals on the surface. Normally I did my godly duties underground... Since I'm the one who has to deal with dragging the dead weight around." He muttered at the last part.

"Seriously? Your peers were so mean to you, they wouldn't let you talk to mortals?" Marion asked in disbelief. Then again, she felt somewhat honored about the idea of being the first human contact of an ancient Egyptian god.

"Well, there is _that,_ but... how do I explain it?" Anubis gestured his hands as if he were dividing things apart. "See, when Ra brought the gods, or the _Rapharions_ , as we prefer to be called, my... society has viewed the mortals as, well... particular creatures that needed guidance while at the same time must be divided from us and give respect. To put it simply, my 'peers', as you call them, treat yours like insects."

"Charming," Marion said drily. "And I suppose that the ancient civilizations calling you benevolent gods bringing on the seasons, the sun, and the crops... Is it just a way to cover the facts that they're jerks?"

"I'm assuming," Anubis shrugged. "I mean, some of the Rapharions _do_ go once in a while to the mortal world, but it's primarily to spread wrath to the unfaithful or pursuing a mortal that could spread demigod offspring. I only went to the mortal surface once and..." He gave a nervous grin. "You know the plagues."

Marion gawked. "You brought the ten plagues?"

"Not the best time of year to have sympathy for the Hebrew slaves and help Moses free them while Osiris was having the anniversary of my... I mean Seth, cutting Osiris into pieces." He chuckled a bit. "I won't lie, the locust plague was my personal favorite. Horus actually got ten of them chewing off his tunic, he was stuck naked on the main plaza."

Marion smiled a bit before saying with sympathy: "Seth must have screwed big time to make you hated by everyone."

Anubis looked grimly at the road ahead of them. The forest was now starting to fade away, making way to a larger area. They were now standing on top of a hill giving a good view of a small town. It seemed that from a distance, the place only had like three or five main streets, a maximum of thirty buildings consisting of row houses, a church, a town hall, few large mansions, a schoolhouse, and other things that weren't visible from where they stood. Small figurines were seen moving around, either by foot, by average cars, or even by tractors or horses.

"That... is surprisingly bigger than I expected," Anubis said. "Roughly one tenth of the city of the Rapharions..." He then smiled and started making his way down the hill. "No one would suspect me of being here."

"Why? The small size?" Marion followed.

"That, but also the low amount of deaths," he said. "See, when immortals like the Rapharions get the rare opportunity to go out in the mortal world, they primarily go to places that attracts their divine jobs. For instance, Thoth would probably go to Oxford, Hathor in some strip club in Vegas -I swear, she's a show off- and Horus would probably go to any place with lots of falcons."

"I hear Boston has a lot of those."

"So have I. And as for me... the other Rapharions like to tease about me going to places like New Orleans or maybe any graveyard in Romania..." He gasped in contempt. "Wow. I _really_ have nothing nice to say about home now that I'm in the mortal surface."

"Try toning down the godly dialect, otherwise you'll get yourself noticed." They arrived in Mediansburg. The next five minutes of walking into town were both awkward and amusing for the duo. It was awkward because while Marion kept her usual casual self, Anubis kept his composure stiff. It was like having a stick walk next to a German Shepherd. It then got amusing because Anubis would lose his stiff walk to make a pause and observe with curiosity his surroundings. Everything seemed to be a new discovery for him from the bookstore and thrift shop opening their doors to the random parents bringing their parents to school or the old man running the pharmacist wishing a friendly nice day to the local priest. After reaching Wood Street, they came to face a diner.

"A diner inside an old merchandise train wagon?" Anubis looked at the thing, roughly the size and length of one row house. It still stood on wheels, but they were chained to the ground to prevent it from rolling away. The old thing was painted with brick red paint on the walls and dark green around the window and doorway to make it seem cohesive with the neighborhood. Through the windows, one could see that the owner had done some serious construction to make the inside look like a classic American diner. One end of the wagon had been demolished in order to build an outdoor platform and place tables and chairs for people who wanted to eat outside and have a view of the pleasant street and fountain. "Rather original."

"The Homely Diner," Marion sighed eagerly. "C'mon!" She rushed inside the diner and he followed her. The doorbell dinged as soon as the door popped open and the smell of cooked meat and sizzling soda filled their nostrils.

"Hey, look! If it isn't Romanson!" A chubby bearded man in a dirty orange cooking uniform stepped outside of the kitchen and gave Marion one greasy hug. "How've you been?"

"Swell," Marion grinned while flicking away the grease she got on her shirt.

The man then spotted Anubis. He then gave Marion a teasing arched eyebrow. "My, my, Romanson! When did you find yourself a boyfriend?"

Marion blushed fiercely. "He's not my..."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Jack Allen," Anubis smiled and shook the man's hand. "I'm new in town and Marion is just giving me a place to stay while I settle in Mediansburg."

"Catchy." The man smiled back. "Well it's very nice having you in our little corner of America, Jack. I'm Ol' Simon and any new friend of Marion gets on-the-house servings. Would you two like a booth or a normal table?"

"Booth," Marion said.

"Actually, could we go with the bar?" Anubis said at the same time. Before Marion could glare at him, he quickly changed. "Lady's first pick!"

"Booth it is, Simon," Marion said. Ol' Simon gave a small chuckle of amusement and led them to a red colored booth right below a hanged picture of a David Bowie concert poster. As they sat down, the old fellow brought them the menus. "So Jack, what brings you to our small Midwestern home of nobodies?" He asked.

Marion bit her lip.

"Issues back home," Anubis said with a small sigh. "I mean, I should have seen it coming. With my dad getting incarcerated and my mom committing suicide, my uncle encouraging the rest of the foster family and the neighborhood to hate me... At least my aunt had enough love to encourage me to leave and make my own life."

"Bummer," Ol' Simon said sympathetically. Marion, in the meantime, rested her cheek on her disbelieving fingers. She couldn't believe how the guy easily fell for such a story. "Well, I do hope that Mediansburg can be your ideal sanctuary. If you ever need anything, let me know."

"That's kind of you." Anubis nodded and opened up the menu. "Any personal recommendations? I have quite the carnivorous appetite."

"Come to think of it, isn't it today Tuesday Brunch Day?" Marion looked at the menu herself.

"Yep," Simon said.

"Great, I'll go with my usual scrambled eggs and sausages." Marion closed her menu and handed it back to Ol' Simon. "With regular coffee."

"Got it." Ol' Simon grabbed a notepad from his uniform and started taking notes. "What about you, Jack?"

"Ooh, the Six Layers of Bacon and a glass of orange juice would sound like a great order, please." Anubis slightly licked the corner of his lips.

"I like this guy." Ol' Simon smiled as he gathered the menus. "I'll be back with your orders in a bit." The man left for the kitchen, leaving the two alone at the booth.

"I can't believe how you managed to twist your story enough to make Simon pity you," Marion said quietly. "And seriously, 'Jack Allen'?"

"Immortal thing." Anubis unfolded his napkin and placed it on his lap. "Besides, do you know what my foster brother calls himself? _Horace._ Hathor? _Heather_. Sobek is probably the most ridiculous... At one point in the 1940s, he goes to Cairo because he's ticked on the illegal crocodile skin marketing, next thing you know, he comes back home telling everyone..." He slouches on his seat and pretends to flip his hair, making Marion snort a bit. Anubis then spoke in a casual, savvy tone. "'Sup, I'm Sorbet.'"

That did it. Marion cracked up in laughter. Her laughs almost caught the attention of everyone else in the diner, but for them, it was just another Tuesday where somebody lost it whenever he or she heard a funny story.

"Seriously? He calls himself after Italian ice cream?" Marion calmed down and slowed down on the laughter. "Sorry, I shouldn't be laughing..."

"Yeah, I didn't laugh either... well, not in _public._ "

"Why not?"

"Plague number one?"

"Oh." Marion now understood that he meant one of the ten plagues that, guess what, _he_ unleashed. She remembered that the first (and most modernly popular) of the plagues was the one of the Nile River turning into a blood river, depriving the people of any fresh water to drink or to grow their crops.

"Yeah, he owned the Nile River... he wasn't crazy that I stained it with blood?"

"Did you tell him that it was for a 'good cause'?" Marion air-quoted. Anubis tilted his head, his frown clearly saying 'Hello, Seth's kid apologizing wouldn't make a difference'!

A waitress came carrying a tray. For Marion, she placed a purple mug full of steaming coffee, and for Anubis, she put down an orange juice glass. It didn't escape Marion's eyes that the waitress, one of the many she encountered on a weekly basis whenever she came to the Homely Diner, giving the Rapharion a flirty wink accompanied by a smile. Marion felt her cheeks burning until she saw Anubis responding to the waitress' message by giving an ignoring huff and straightening his napkin. The dissatisfied woman left in a rush.

Anubis then moved his hand to the Eye of Ra (yes, he still kept it on top of his shirt) and cautiously nipped at it with his fingers. Microscopic sparks came for five seconds and the man quickly flicked the tiny shard he picked into his drink. Marion watched in awe as the small thing dissolved into golden fluid in the beverage.

"Wow," she said.

"I promise to be discreet," Anubis said. "But Rapharions need to drink a weekly dose Ra's blood..." He saw Marion tense. "It's like the Egyptian version to Asgardian mead and the Greek's nectar and ambrosia, but it acts like a substance to support our metabolism. It doesn't affect the flavor of the food and drinks I feast on, but it will keep me from dissolving..."

"Dissolving?" Marion asked.

Anubis grimaced. "Let's just say the Rapharions were rather dependent on this." He poked at the Eye of Ra. "Let's suppose you were a Rapharion. You live in the city and imitate others by depending on the Eye of Ra to provide you sunlight to brighten your days, earth for the slaves to grow the crops for the feasts, water to drink... Everything you eat and drink in the city is basically ambrosia and nectar created from Ra's blood from the Eye of Ra. Make sense?"

Marion nodded.

"But then suppose you decide to visit another realm or the mortal surface. You're now exposed and out of your garden. Before you leave, you need to bring a portable reserve of Ra's blood so that you can insert it in your food or drink..."

"Basically, if I didn't have the reserve to keep me on at least once a week, I'd start turning into a mummy?"

"A dried up mummy that blows away like desert sand in the middle of a storm." He drank from his cup and began to widen his eyes. "So yummy!"

"House special!" Ol' Simon dropped the plates before them. Marion rubbed her hands in excitement when she saw her scrambled eggs and sausages while Anubis did his best to not drool like a dog as he gave desiring eyes to burger holding six layers of stacked, steaming bacon in between a lettuce leaf and a tomato.

"May I please faint?" He begged. "Or perhaps wolf down on it?"

Ol' Simon chuckled and gave Anubis a pat on the pack. "Man, do I like this guy!"

"Now don't spoil him, Simon," Marion joked. "He'll probably empty your freezer before Thanksgiving!"

"Oh, ha, ha!" Anubis stretched his fingers and grabbed the burger. The humans watched him eat in slow motion, literally taking his time taking a huge bite and chewing it. "God bless the pig that was well raised before turning into those slices of heaven!"

"Marion, I swear, keep bringing this guy every day!" Ol' Simon was begging in excitement. "This is the first time I see somebody enjoying my bacon!"

"Why? Doesn't everyone like this?" Anubis stopped eating his burger.

"It's complicated," Marion said as she went through her scrambled eggs.

"We're a small town, Jack," Ol' Simon said as he pulled over a chair and sat down next to them. "Everyone contributes with the survival of Mediansburg while at the same time gaining what they can manage. Some folks like me and this town manage places like the diner where people gather to eat and I deal with at least a quarter of my customers being either vegetarian or non-Christian. Others go out of town to come back with the necessary technologies that keep the town in touch with the modern. And then there are some who are in charge of making food for us. We have a couple farmers who grow fruits, vegetables, and beans, others who make the frozen goods and drinks, and then there's Marion and the others going hunting..."

"I didn't know you could hunt." Anubis looked at Marion.

"Heh, it's nothing," Marion said sheepishly as she drank from her coffee.

"She's so humble," Ol' Simon shook his head. "Aside from the Longwood Livestock Ranch, most of the meat we get in Mediansburg comes from the hunters who go into the woods. The entire blasted place crawls with wolves, deer, boars..."

"I thought boars were European." Anubis frowned.

"Invasive species from Corsica. And then there's the turkeys. Gosh, Marion's the best at hunting animals on her own with her rifle. The other hunters claim that whenever they see her hunt, she's so silent when she sneaks up on the beasts that they don't see it coming until she shoots the bullet right into through the neck."

"That sounds amazing," Anubis said in impressment. "I wonder if..."

The doorbell dinged and some blonde woman in a dirty overalls and boots got everyone's attention. "People, this is a going on message!" She shouted in her Southern accent.

"Is it the potato field again?" Somebody asked.

"Yeah, it's still completely flooded," the woman shook her head. Disapproving groans came from the clients.

"A flooded field?" Anubis asked.

"Yeah, last week was awfully pouring," Marion said. "Tess there works in the vegetable fields and they just got the potato field all mud filled, it's like a brown pond drowning the crop."

"And the crops take such a long time to make, Tess will have to take another two months to grow another field out of scratch." Ol' Simon shook his head. Anubis said nothing, and before Marion could say anything, he got off his seat and walked up to Farmer Tess.

"Ma'am, I know it's not much of my business, but would it be possible for me to have a look at your potato field?"


	3. The Crops of Anubis

Chapter 3: The Crops Of Anubis

"Stephen Strange... lives in _that_?" Bruce Banner pointed at the old building Thor had taken him to in Bleecker Street, New York. After the death of Bast and his departure from the Avenger's compound to locate Anubis, Thor brought along his old friend Banner to the one place in the Big Apple where he could be told where to find the mummification god.

"Yes, he's... particularly strange for a mystic sorcerer." Thor sighed at the lame pun. "But he's quite helpful. He helped Loki and I find where Odin was, therefore he must know where Anubis is."

"Thor, isn't Dr. Strange a neurosurgeon?"

"Well, yes. Yes, I am."

The two men yelped when they found themselves no longer out in Bleecker Street but inside the Sanctum Sanctorum, in one of the odd living rooms. Dr. Strange and his assistant Wong were in there, staring away from a strange 3D holographic map of the world.

"Thor," Strange nodded. "Glad to see Loki isn't with you." He smiled and nodded at Banner. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

"Same here... except I didn't expect you to be retired from the hospital and into magic," Banner admitted, rather stunned.

"Yes, accidents can change a man's life." The former neurosurgeon's fingers shook a little uneasily, suggesting that he was still getting used to dealing with his broken nerves while performing magic.

Wong instantly and bluntly chose to switch the topic. "The god Seth has made an appearance in Egypt."

Thor tensed. "What?"

"This map is of many that sorcerers use to locate mystical threats and deal with them while avoiding the public eye," Dr. Strange explained. He made a pinching motion on his map and showed a real life, holographic display of...

"The pyramid of Giza," Banner said. He shuddered a bit while Thor looked, disturbed, as the display went on to show a man rotting the black pyramid and turning a bunch of tourists into Ancient Egyptian monsters before sending them off and returning to the temple himself.

"I don't get it," the thunder god said. "Bast said he was free from his prison for a year now. Why does he show up now, only to transform some mortals and go back where he came from?"

"The Eye of Ra had a negative side effect on him." Wong said. "Wielding it may give you the power to give, take, and control souls, but unless you are the guardian it chose, its energy will consume."

"Seth spent his time in a desert dimensional prison after he was banished by the other Rapharions," Dr. Strange explained. "With the Eye separated from him, his life force is draining from the lack of power usage and now he is a moving pile of black sand."

"So the man we just saw..." Banner waved his finger at the hologram. "Is it some kind of manifestation? Or an illusion?"

"It must be the only form he can currently take," Thor said. "Unlike the Asgardians, the Rapharions take three different forms: their animal forms, their human forms, and their ultimate forms. I never met Seth myself, but I am assuming that this is his human form... as long as he can keep it up with the black sand. Bast said that a Rapharion could quickly die when not feasting on ambrosia and nectar... Seth must be too famished and weakened."

"The side effect of being locked up and being not chosen by the Eye," Dr. Strange nodded. "The best conclusion we can make right now is that after attacking and killing the other Rapharions, Seth must have ended all their surviving nourishment to keep himself living, but because of his exposure to the Eye of Ra, he can't take a permanent physical form. He can do a temporary one, giving him enough time to corrupt innocents into his slaves to do the dirty work for him..."

"But should he reunite with the Eye of Ra, he will become flesh again. The pyramid's power will no longer be able to contain him and he can easily crush the mortal world in his ultimate form," Wong added.

"That is why I've come," Thor said. "According to Bast, Seth's son Anubis is the current guardian of the Eye of Ra and he ran off with it before Seth attacked. You helped me find my father Odin... I was hoping you could do the same..."

"Oh, we already know." Dr. Strange said.

"Thank god," Banner sighed.

"The only problem is that if I told you, it would break everything the mystic sorcerers and other magical protectors stand for: protecting the Earth secretly."

Banner frowned. "Wait, you mean that you protect the world... without anyone knowing it?"

"I can talk to you about it scientist-to-scientist another time," the former neurosurgeon offered. "Our job does help avoid collateral damage. But we do it under the world's ignorance."

"Gotcha."

"I pretty much can't rely on my former teammates," Thor said sadly as he thought of the last time he saw the Avengers. "You can rest assured that I won't tell anyone."

Dr. Strange and Wong nodded to each other. The latter held his hand up and a fiery circle appeared, making an ancient book drop into his hand. He flipped through the pages. "Aside from the mystic sorcerers, there are also secret governmental branches built upon the collaboration of mortal men and immortal creatures to deal with the wave of divine immigration."

"Divine immigration?" Thor asked.

"Ever since the expansion of monotheist religions and modern beliefs, the ancient deities and creatures that roamed the realms of our ancestors have spread out to immigrate in new areas as humans evolved. Everytime a human takes the responsibility of hosting an immortal or helping in blending into society in a certain country, they are then notified by the country's secret services' most highly classified..."

"Time out, I'm confused." Banner shook his head.

"Pretend that Thor wanted to stay in the United States or in any other country in the world. The rule is that an immortal must be guarded by a mortal away from the common authorities. So let's imagine that Thor wanted to stay in a certain country and you were his human host," Dr. Strange explained. "The country's secret services has a classified but legal branch that helps manage the immigration of that immortal while he lives with the mortal. They'll guarantee your protection and good life as long as you don't try to show off."  
"Basically like permanently placing a studying abroad student in a local native's house."

"Pretty much. Every country has that branch that helps humans and immortals live together under secrecy, even the government they work in doesn't know they exist. Only one leading authority in the services gets to serve as an ambassador and protector of the organization."

"The organizations also take part of dealing with the country's rogue immortals to avoid creating chaos," Wong said. "And to emphasize the collaboration, they have duo teams made of the immortal and the human host."

"Like a secret S.H.I.E.L.D," Thor said, fascinated. "

"Normally those organizations avoid contacting each other and stick to business in their countries," Dr. Strange said, "but with the threat of Seth, PI had to break the rule to notify the American organization..."

"PI?" Thor asked, wondering why they were talking about pastries.

"The organizations use Greek letters to sound like college fraternities and hide their true names," Strange explained. "For Egypt, PI stands for 'Pharaohs Intervention'. That's the Egyptian branch. The one in the United States is called 'Gods and Men Association'..." He hesitated as he looked at Banner. "GAMA for short."

"Hilarious," the gamma radiations expert said. "So can the GAMA tell us where to find Anubis?"

"You won't have to ask," Wong said. "For a year now, Anubis has been working there."

 _Meanwhile_

Two soldiers from the Army of the Black Sand tossed the whimpering Egyptian cop right into the floor. He whimpered in fear when he found himself in a black throneroom, with the entire floor covered with skeletons that were mushed together to make a pathway towards the red throne, where Seth sat with full domination.

"An Egyptian soldier... how pathetic... He's shaking like a leaf."

"P... Please, don't hurt me..." The cop begged. He even knelt (at least he learned something from Loki's attack in Germany), but even that didn't impress Seth.

"As much as I'd want to devour your heart, I can't." Seth stood but remained just in front of the throne. He briefly looked at it in disgust. "Can you believe Osiris sat in _that_? Even when I stain it with blood, it doesn't look better. Fortunately, I know where the blood belongs."

He spun, his arms held out, and the blood flew off the throne and moved like tentacles towards the mortal. He screamed as he got constricted by at least ten feet thickness of body liquids until his body silently disappeared and all that was left was a floating giant egg dripping blood on the floor.

"You are the first of the ten I am bringing to command my army. Wherever you go, any liquids you touch will be your veins. Any mortal who drinks you will die," Seth declared. "You are the reincarnation of the foul spirit my flesh and blood has released upon Egypt. Rise, Nile, the First Plague!"

The dripping blood continued until all the blood went to cover the floor pathway, as if to make a miniature river. A form then twisted its way up, the blood that created it forming gory humanoid flesh. It opened its white ominous eyes and hissed.

" **Nile is at your service, Oh Mighty Seth** ," it said. " **How can Nile assist you?** "

"Bring some of my soldiers with you and speed up the search for Anubis." Seth scowled at a ruined wall painting that represented the royal family, particularly at the illustration of a certain jackal headed boy standing next to Queen Isis. "It's high time I actually met... my biological son."

 _Mediansburg, a year ago_

It was darn luck that nobody followed them to the potato field. The farmers observing 'Jack Allen' dig through the roots of their crops with his own fingers was enough of an audience in Marion's perspective.

"What ya think?" Tess asked.

"Well the flooding is not giving much to your crops my making the earth muddy." He pulled up a rotten root and held it in his fingers for the farmers and Marion to see. "Exactly how much fertilizers and pesticides are you using on a daily basis?"

"With the fields' small sizes, we use measuring cups to give each plant their daily doses," Tess said. "Twice in summer."

"Unbelievable," Anubis muttered. "Look, insect vermins aside, you're making the water the soil drinks far more polluted than it should be, which could contaminate your crops. Add in rain, groundwater circulation, and the rest of the water cycle, anyone could have gotten food poisoning." He knelt down and frowned. His hands shoveled through the mud, into the thick layer, and revealed tiny tunnels, some revealing gnawed potatoes. "I'm also including underground rodents who've been sampling your potatoes."

"Rats." One of the male farmers said in an ashamed tone. "We may have to restart the crops all over again."

"Until we even got the tractors, it took at least a decade for this town to grow a crop! We can't wait five years!" Tess exclaimed.

"Maybe not." Anubis got back up. As he wiped his hands, he looked around the land that the fields and the town of Mediansburg occupied before being surrounded by the forest. "I have two questions: do you have any field that you haven't used yet and do you have one near any water source that isn't underground? A river, maybe?"

"I know a stream and a small waterfall." Marion pointed up north. "Many of the wild boars go there to drink or gather."

"Not too farm from Sam's corn crop." Tess pointed at the farmer who had said 'rats'. She looked at the man. "You do have an empty patch near your crops, don't ya? Dry as Nevada?"

"Even the rain couldn't damage it with mud," Sam said.

"That should be perfect." Anubis grabbed a stranded stick and started tracing in the dirt patch. He traced Mediansburg, the farms, the field in question, and the area where Marion had pointed. He then went to trace a straight line that connected the area to the field, drew a square at the end of the line, and added nine smaller squares in it.

"Groundwater is out of the question, and I don't know how the piping works in this town, but my main recommendation would be shoveling in order to create a dirt canal that would connect the river to the bare field and bring in fresh water into the small trenches that circulate the growing patches," he explained. "It may require time, but it would guarantee better crops."

Tess rubbed her chin. "Kind of old school, but I suppose it's worth the try. Me and the rest of the gang can rush to Sam's farm and do the field measuring."

"And I still have to go hunting, so A... Jack and I can go check how far the river is to the field and see how much shoveling we'll need to do," Marion said.

"Great," Anubis said eagerly. "I still have to see you hunt."

 _30 minutes later_

"You honestly don't know the meaning of 'toning it down', do you?"

They just went back to Marion's cottage in order for her to fetch her rifle and head to the forest, but not in the north direction, which surprised Anubis a bit until he learned that she wanted to see if she caught anything in the traps she had laid out yesterday. He even morphed into his jackal self to accompany her in the woods and reunite with the leaves and mud's aroma, accompanied by far more trees from oaks to pines, and chippering from hidden creatures.

"I toned down on my godly dialect, not in me offering to help," he said matter-of-factly. A small smile appeared on his canine lips. "Besides, it felt nice to be appreciated for helping out."

"Probably because modern men aren't as paranoid as the ancient ones." Marion stopped in her tracks, he imitated her. They looked up and saw a deer hanging from a tree, courtesy of its ankle trapped in a rope, and struggling in vain to get off.

"Fresh catch," Marion smirked and raised her gun up...

"Wait!" Anubis held his paw before he gun, freezing her before she could click the trigger. The jackal looked back at the deer and sniffed, making his nostrils move up three times in a beating drum manner. "OK, you can shoot it." He removed his paw and scooted out of the way, hearing only the gunshot and watching in awe as Marion got up the tree and untied the rope, leaving the deer to drop on the ground.

"Good game," he said.

"Why the delay?" Marion asked sharply. She grabbed the rope and started dragging the deer behind her as they went further into the forest.

"Hey, I had to make sure that the deer wasn't some god in disguise or an immortal creature belonging to another god." He rolled his eyes. "You have _no_ idea of the amount of trouble mortals got into when they messed with the divine livestock! Have you heard of the Odyssey?"

"Yes, what about... Oh, there was a part about all the men dying except Odysseus because he was the only one who didn't eat the sun god's cows!" She sighed. "I'm sorry I snapped."

"I know you mean well. Just be cautious on what you hunt."

They went on through the traps, with the few occasional hanging deer or even squirrels caught in the wolf traps. Before Marion killed any of the live preys, she would let Anubis take one of his sniffing tactics to ensure that the animals were god-proof before the bullet proved otherwise. After going through the ten traps she had placed and reset, they proceeded to return back with the game after they dealt with the last trap.

For that one, Marion didn't even raise her rifle. She just had to see how upset Anubis looked when he saw that the trap was the only one they ran into with a live grey wolf still struggling to get itself free, at the cost of losing a paw.

"You can let her go," Marion said. She put down her rifle. Anubis walked towards the wolf. It bared its teeth at it, but when it saw the Eye of Ra on Anubis' neck, it stopped to bow. That eventually led Marion to realize that, probably due to being a god, Anubis in jackal form was actually bigger than a grey wolf by a foot. She watched Anubis turn back into his human form, clutch the trap, and turn it into a stick faster than she could blink. The wolf made a pouting noise while it put its injured paw in Anubis' hand. He brushed his other hand over the injury, creating a faint orange glow that flowed over the leg before disappearing and fully healing the wolf. Marion smiled as it growled happily at Anubis and ran off.

"She'll be back to her pups," Anubis said with a smile and turned back into a dog.

"It was a she?" Marion gasped. "God I..." She saw just giving her a patient look. "I'll slow down on the wolf hunting."

He gave her an approving nod.

Marion sighed in relief and bent down to pick her rifle. She then felt something soft brushing her cheek. It didn't take her long enough to return Anubis' comforting nuzzling with a scratch in the ear. A puppy-like whimper came from him as he enjoyed her scratching his ears.

Marion smiled and doubled the scratching. "How could someone as kind as you be seen as a monster?"

 _Washington DC, present day_

Thor and Banner sat on the bench, keeping their hoods up in order to avoid being noticed as they waited for the metro to come in the Gallery Place Chinatown Station.

"I never understood why mortals would really on such underground contraptions to go to their destinations," Thor said as he watched the silver snakes come and go in at least four different directions. Banner, on the other hand, was busy reading the paper of instructions that Dr. Strange had given them.

"'Head to DC, go to the metro station in Chinatown, wait for the 11:30am train heading for Greenbelt, and sit in the last wagon. Remain calm.'" He repeated the written words. "I like that guy."

"What time is it now?" Thor asked.

Banner checked his wristwatch. The handles indicated 11:29. "Should be right about now..."

The floor lights instantly did their blinking and the green line metro came in. The god and the doctor got off their seats and made their way to the last cart, stepping inside once the automated voice did its usual task of telling them that doors were stepping and please wait to allow customers to exit.

The last cart was somewhat empty. Aside from the two hidden Avengers, the only other passengers were two girls sitting on the seats facing them. The oldest, a white brunette in her early twenties, was reading a VOGUE magazine, while the youngest, an African-American girl in her mid-teens, was doing a crossword puzzle from this magazine called HISTORICAL HUNKS.

 _Step back, doors closing_. The doors closed and the metro made its way to the tunnel. Nobody said anything, not even a word. Even the ladies didn't flip their pages.

The cart suddenly stopped, and when the men turned their heads, they saw that the rest of the train had gone ahead.

"Did we just get... separated?" Banner asked.

The cart suddenly shook and they saw that the ground below them grew until they came to the conclusion that they were on a platform bringing the cart down like an elevator.

"Day off over." The teenager grumbled while she and her partner put their magazines into the oldest's purse. "How come you only have one eye, old Thunder?"

Thor frowned. "Are you talking to me?"

"Forgive my associate, she nicknames everyone she meets," the oldest said. "Lord Thor and Dr. Banner, it's a pleasure to meet you. Dr. Strange have forwarded our boss on your arrival." She got up and shook hands with them. "My name is Zoë Hazelfields, I work in the science division of the Gods and Men Association."

"You are a mortal," Thor concluded when he shook her hand. He then looked at the other girl. "I'm concluding that you are the immortal one in the partnership."

She cracked the knuckles and instantly changed. Her dreadlocks turned into a giant black cloak that covered her entire body. Her skin turned lighter and withered, even her bones could be seen underneath the black-and-blue battlesuit she now wore. Instead of being a youthful teenager, she now looked like a teenager desperately avoiding to age.

"An eastern banshee," Thor said in amazement. "I haven't seen one ever since the Roman expansion."

"Yeah, I use the youthful energy only when I have my days off." She said. "Just call me Bonnie."

The descending finally stopped. The right door opened, this time ignoring the automated voice, and led right into a hallway made of a blue floor and black walls. A silver symbol of a giant sharing his thunderbolt with a smaller man holding the American Flag with his spare hand welcomed them.

"Now that you are here," Zoë said, "why don't my partner and I give you a tour of G.A.M.A before you meet our boss?"


	4. Gods And Men Association

Chapter 4: Gods And Men Association

The G.A.M.A logo opened up to a glass elevator. Once in, Thor and Banner saw the underground base that was the Gods And Men Association: a semi-sphere sector big enough to fill the National Mall with the medal dome holding up the earth from collapsing onto the ten glass building compounds. Through the windows, agents wearing the same suit as Bonnie were seen working on advanced computers or handling creatures that didn't look human. Scientists and all terrain vehicles were seen moving around the 'outdoor plaza' shaped like the logo.

"This... is a whole lot bigger than S.H.I.E.L.D," Banner gasped while the elevator went up.

"This is what they call 'divine immigration'?" Thor frowned with his one remaining eye.

"Quick history lesson." Bonnie pulled out a scroll and let Thor and Banner have a look at it while she exclaimed. "By the time monotheist religions came in the BCs to early ADs with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, it has been decided by the mortal philosophers and immortal group leaders that humans were better off living without treating the non-humans like witches or superstitions. As the monotheists spread, the pagan myths blended in. In whichever country they decided to settle in, they had to go through that country's divine immigration organization, which is a classified branch of that country's secret services.

"The American divine immigration started around the 17th century during the colonial times. At that time, the natives had no idea what was going on with the immortals in Europe, Africa, and Asia, but when the territory issues came along with the white invasion and the American Revolution, a Powhatan managed to convince the other tribes from the what would become the United States that their gods were better off being hidden from the invisible Christian god. The Powhatan Treaty was signed and the Gods and Men Association was formed on the same day as the Declaration of Independence."

"And the entire immigration part, how does it fully work?" Banner asked. "Dr. Strange and Wong mentioned human hosts..."

"It means that whichever mortal an immortal first meets in a country with peaceful contact is like their guardian," Zoë explained. "When I met Bonnie, we formed a bond upon our first meeting. The radars of G.A.M.A detected that bond and they sent an agent to bring us over for registration. They give you two options: registration and the mortal helps the immortal blend in, or registration and make a duo working for G.A.M.A."

"I insisted on working here." Bonnie raised a hand. "Pretending to be human twenty-four seven would have been murder."

Zoë sighed in frustration. "It's a relief that the boss forbade you of ever going inside a karaoke bar."

The elevator doors opened, leading to another hallway, only this one had glass walls that helped you see agent clerks working on their computers or making phone calls. "Wong said that Anubis has been working at GAMA for a year..." Thor began to say.

"Lord Thor, we understand the weight of the situation, but that is something out boss wishes to discuss with you." Zoë shook her head. "I'm merely carrying out orders."

"You said you're part of the science division," Banner said. "Exactly how many divisions are there in G.A.M.A?"

"Three, and I'm not counting the sub divisions." Bonnie counted with her fingers. "There's the Registration Division, the Science Division, and the Nimrod Division."

"Nimrod?" Thor looked at the young banshee. "Why would a secret immigration society have a use for hunters?"

"Hold that question for the boss." They stopped in front of a metal door. Zoë rolled up her sleeve, revealing a tattoo of three numbers stamped onto a logo that had an awfully familiar symbol on it. Bonnie held Thor and Banner back while Zoë went inside.

"Zoë used to be a prisoner of HYDRA," Bonnie told them quietly.

"For how long?" Banner asked suspiciously.

"She never told me. All I know is that her grandpa had issues with HYDRA during World War II, which cost her parents' lives." The banshee lowered her head sadly. "They tortured her until she managed to escape. She was still on the run from them until I met her and G.A.M.A hired us."

"Were they hunting her before or after the Avengers took down the last HYDRA base in Sokovia?" Thor asked.

"No clue. But don't try asking her too much about it, OK?"

The doors opened and Zoë came back out. She lead them inside what looked like a modern Spartan office, complete with an advanced computer, bookshelves full of ancient manuscripts, and a window revealing the full G.A.M.A headquarters. Unlike normal offices, this one had a living ceiling: stars circulated like clock handles and planets sailed around. It was like seeing the universe move.

A desk stood in front of a hanging banner with the association's logo. On the chair stood an old man in his early nineties dressed in some kind of modern gray toga. His eyes were blindfolded by a black scarf on top of his grey hair, preventing anyone from seeing his eyes. A grey plaque was screwed onto his desk with the following words shouting at the readers.

 **JUSTICE IS BLIND. ONLY TRUE INNER MORALITY WILL SUCCEED.**

"I knew only one man who'd say such a thing." Thor went down on his knees, bowing at the man on the desk. "Tiresias, the blind clairvoyant."

"You mean the one from the Odyssey? But isn't he..." Banner couldn't find the right words.

"Death is a mere disillusion, Robert Bruce Banner," Tiresias said quietly. "Immortals may die, but as long as people continue to hear the myths, we reincarnate. I have died at every century, but everytime I reborn into a wee baby with clearer clairvoyance because people still hear of me."

"Then you know why we are here." Thor rose up.

Tiresias nodded. He paused and held a hand up. "So much suffering. A lost eye, a lost parent, a destroyed kingdom... aside from the eye, you and Anubis share much in common." He turned his shaking hand to Banner. "Seen as a monster by many, but still a good man from within."

Zoë and Bonnie looked at each other while Tiresias went on. "Oh, the boy's fate was sealed the moment the Eye of Ra chose him. And his host, Marion Romanson... her poor heart..."

"Sir?" Zoë rolled her eyes. "Back to Anubis?"

"Patience, my child." Tiresias held up his hands just one inch of his desk. "Anubis did join the Gods and Men Association with his host Marion. The moment I predicted his arrival in her hometown, I tasked one of the registration agents to bring them over. They had the choice of either blending in or working for us."

"And they chose to stay." Thor said.

"Nobody _stays_ at G.A.M.A. We work for the greater good of human and immortal connections, but we still have lives outside of work. Anubis and Marion Romanson have been registered as immortal-host duo into the Nimrod Division."

"And Nimrod is?" Banner asked, clearly expecting a question answered.

"Not all immortals who immigrate into a new country want to blend in," Bonnie explained. "With mortals seeing them as mere stories to use for movies or costume ideas for Halloween, they feel rather... disrespected."

"We call them INs, longer term being 'Immortal Nonconformists'," Zoë added. "Most of the INs are dark figures of myths or monsters who rely on fear to get their messages around. Every divine immigration organization in the world has a Nimrod Division: hunters who go after INs with the possibility of certain physical conflict, and bring them back to the organizations, where they get trialed. Either blend in or get exiled from the country."

"That's a bit iron-fisted." Banner winced.

"Hey, when you don't have your papers or you come in illegally or you lose your VISA, they send you back home. Same here." Bonnie shrugged.

"This isn't S.H.I.E.L.D or the Raft." Tiresias nodded with the banshee. "We don't imprison immortals in some miserable cell primarily because they refuse to camouflage as normal humans."

"And what if it were a human who refused to commit?" Thor asked.

"Memory effacing." Zoë shrugged. "We make the immortal and the human forget that they ever met each other. The mortal goes back to his or her normal life while the immortal either finds a new host or leaves the country."

Thor and Banner looked at each other, rather concerned. This organization was quite direct on the way they handled things, but for the sake of the world, they stuck with their purpose.

"Thank you for explaining the situation to us." Thor bowed his head to Tiresias. "When can we see Anubis?"

"Once he returns from his mission..." Tiresias said. "Definetly after you deal with the upcoming problem..."

The doors opened and an agent came rushing in. "Sir, we got a problem. We've got Iron Man and the Sokovia Accord supporting Avengers scouting the DC Metro green and yellow lines."

"Rats. Ross must have forced Tony to follow us," Banner said.

"Not quite." Tiresias raised a finger. "One of Seth's minions has just dragged a S.H.I.E.L.D agent to his master. Someone's planning to spite his son."

 _Meanwhile_

Nile flowed his way into the dark throneroom, presenting the kidnapped S.H.I.E.L.D agent trapped in blood handcuffs to his master.

"A S.H.I.E.L.D agent... and five hours faster than it took my other minions to bring your host. Very good work, Nile." Seth threw a live frog at Nile. The liquid creature instantly swallowed it. The small creature's body dissolved like salt in the blood. The agent said nothing and remained stone solid. He clearly wasn't going to let that god impress him.

But Seth didn't buy human bravery. He snapped his fingers, Nile nodded, and the latter spit out the dissolved remains of the frog. The agent screamed as masses of red, black stained frogs drowned him until not even his head stood out.

"The second to join my commanders," Seth proceeded to declare just like he did with Nile. "All amphibians shall obey you. What they see and hear are what you hear and see, and their knowledge will help you see right through my enemies. Rise, Amphibian, the Second Plague!"

The frogs melted like crimson tar until they solidified. The shape they made was humanoid, but like Nile it was no longer human. It was biped, yes, but entirely covered by smooth, shining red, black stained frogs. Its hands and feet were formed like those of a frog. It did not have a mouth, but it did have eyes that opened up to reveal dark red Egyptian eyes.

" **Amphibian is at your service, Oh Mighty Seth. How may Amphibian assist you**?"

 _Back at G.A.M.A_

The Sokovia Accord supporting Avengers sat at one of the G.A.M.A council rooms, which was basically like an Ancient Greek amphitheater with the Avengers sitting on one side, the G.A. on the other side, and Tiresias and the leads of the organization's divisions at the central podiums.

"I thought I made it clear I didn't want the divided Avengers in the way," Thor told Iron Man coldly.

"The trouble with Seth does concern us, you know," Tony pointed out. "At least your lucky I convinced us to just let us keep an eye out in case DC got attacked while you were in DC... Also because he complained that when he sent some soldiers to question Dr. Strange after you left, the soldiers were calling from Antarctica."

"Oh, he must have used those dimensional doors! I _love_ those!" Bonnie said.

"I know, right?" Zoë grinned.

"Remember when we played mahjong against Wong back in November? Winners pushed the losers through the doors in any location!"

"Wong was quite upset," Zoë pointed out.

"Hey! We used the doors to send him to the Bahamas right when Beyoncé was on tour!"

The woman representing the Science Division cleared her throat at the girls. The latter two stopped jabbering and sat straight.

"Look, Tiresias... sir?" Tony Stark spoke. "The situation with the Avengers is a but tense, but we were wondering, before Ross starts getting picky, if it would be possible to request Anubis' collaboration..."

"In defeating Seth. How blind do you think I am?" Tiresias asked the man. His tone made it clear that this wasn't the first time people assumed that blind meant not being clairvoyant, so he briefly lost his friendliness. "Besides, why should the Gods And Men Association turn over one of our agents and make him sign the Sokovia Accords?"

"This isn't about the Accords," Natasha said. "Things have been getting too complicated ever since the Avengers became... unstable. The UN passed the Accords because of the catastrophes we caused, catastrophes that came because some inhuman being tried to take over. If Seth starts attacking a major city, it will be the New York Battle all over again. And Anubis could get a deal of burden because he's his son."

"Agent Romanoff, the main difference is that you Avengers are personal-handling vigilantes and that's why the U.N doesn't trust you," the leader of G.A.M.A's Registration Division spoke up. "G.A.M.A, just like any other divine immigration service in the world, is a legit, classified branch of the secret services of the country we serve. We protect the bonds of immortals and humans and help them settle down while keeping a beneath-low profile. Our organization has just one senator that acts as an emergency ambassador between GAMA and Congress." He turned his head as he spoke to everyone, which made him look like an owl turning its head. "If the Avengers and the UN force us to hand over Anubis, we'll be risking exposing our existence to the country. Many citizens wouldn't be ready to know that their neighbors could be gods and mythological creatures pretending to be human."

"So you would just hide?" Rhodey asked.

"HYDRA doesn't know we exist, SHIELD doesn't know we exist," Bonnie shrugged, "even the geeks who believe in werewolves don't know that Anubis goes to the same comic book store as them."

"Even if collaboration would work, it would be awfully too risky," the woman from the Science Division shook her head.

"I hope it's not about me." Banner begged.

"Relax, I have two nephews back home who adore you." The woman shook her head. "No, I'm talking about the Infinity Stones."

"Anubis told you?" Thor guessed.

The woman nodded. "He has permitted us to use sand-sized parcels of his Eye of Ra for experiments, and after a brief visit from Dr. Strange caused two Infinity Stones to meet, half of the Science Division laboratories exploded."

" _Two stones... like the one that brought me life_." Vision gently put his fingers on the Mind Stone on his forehead.

"As far as we know, four Infinity Stones have been located on Earth. The Mind Stone is on your forehead, the Time Stone is with Doctor Strange," she frowned at Thor, "the Tesseract is in _your_ ship..."

"Loki did it," Thor declared.

"You think?" Banner said sarcastically.

"And Anubis has the Soul Stone," the woman continued. "GAMA doesn't know where the final two are, but after the laboratory incidents, we've concluded that such unstable power is best kept apart from each other. Therefore, it would be best if GAMA stayed away from any alliance with the Avengers." She looked at Vision and apologized: "I do not mean to be blunt."

" _You only speak the truth_." Vision nodded.

Tiresias turned his blind head to the leader of the Nimrod Division. "And what about you, Roger? What is your opinion? Anubis works in _your_ division."

Roger sighed and ran his fingers through his brown hair. "Well, to be fair, sir, Anubis is by far one of the best Nimrods of my division and since the problem with Seth seems to be a bit more of a family issue for him, I'd say it would be best if we looked into his opinion."

"So when is he coming back from his mission?" The woman from the Science Division asked.

"Oh, he already dropped off the rogue Hoboken INs at the Registration Department a good ten minutes ago," Roger said. "He and Marion already clocked out for the day."

"You mean they _left_? And you didn't call them to come back to the office?" The man from the Registration Division exclaimed.

"The boss never asked for their presence."

"Boss!" The man whined to Tiresias.

The old man shrugged casually.

"This is great!" Tony slapped himself on the face. "Anubis could be anywhere now!"

 _Dupont Circle neighborhood, around 7pm_

Marion and jackal- Anubis cautiously walked up the stairs of the small apartment building that the dark figure slipped into. 30 minutes ago, they were enjoying dinner at a restaurant on E Street until Anubis spotted a well-hidden dark figure spotting them from outside the restaurant, and when the duo decided to go out to see what it was about, the figure ended up running up the street until it decided to step into an apartment building in the peaceful neighborhood that was Dupont Circle. Good thing that Anubis managed to pick up the smell of the man.

"He's in that room." Anubis sniffed at the wooden door. Marion grabbed the handle and shook it. It wasn't even locked.

"Could be a trap she said." Her hand rested on the gun hanging on her hips.

"Wait here." The jackal used his front paw to push the door open. He walked inside silently and did his best to hide his movements behind the bookcase. The scent got stronger. If Anubis turned to the left, he'd see who was the stalker.

"I just want to talk to you, Anubis," a male voice spoke up.

A sigh of relief came out of Anubis and turned back into his human form. "It's alright, Marion. It's just good old patriotic Uncle Steve."

Marion let go of her gun and closed the door behind her, joining Anubis as they faced Captain America sitting in an armchair. " _You_ were the one stalking us?" She asked. "Since when does Captain America stalk?"

"Since the Sokovia Accords," Steve Rogers said. "The governmental protection my friends and I got from Wakanda is the only thing keeping Ross from imprisoning us."

"So why aren't you in Africa as we speak?" Marion frowned.

"Tony had to convince the UN to let the Avengers reassemble temporarily after Bast got apprehended. Right before she died, she told Thor that Seth had killed the other Rapharions and he's coming for you."

Anubis put a hand on the Eye Of Ra, which was unwilling to hide itself in his black trench coat no matter how hard he tried.

"Is Ross cracking and letting the Avengers handle it this time?" Marion asked.

"Hard to say if we'll let us deal with Seth our way or the governmental means. One things for sure, Thor decided to find you on his own rather than deal with separated Avengers." Captain America shook his head. "My anti-accords companions have headed back to Wakanda. I thought I'd warn you before I left."

"How did you find us?" Marion asked. "G.A.M.A makes sure to destroy any evidence on social media that agents or INs were spotted by civilians."

"I noticed after a Facebook post of a picture with a guy in a giant Egyptian necklace going to Central got erased." He nodded to Anubis. "You really need to figure out a way to hide that thing."

"I've tried, but the stone is sentient... and rather showoff. It doesn't want me to hide it. Besides, civilians think I'm just another 21st century cosplay fan of _The Prince Of Egypt_."

"I bet you could pull it if you added the wig and the Egyptian skirt," Marion joked as she headed to the empty kitchen. "You were in Rapharion rags when I found you in my barn. Anyone want tap water?"

The men shook their heads. Marion just shrugged and went on to search for drinking cups in the vacant cabinets until she found three old mugs. Anubis gave a small smile behind Marion, which Steve Rogers instantly noticed.

"How long as she hosted you on Earth?" He asked the young god.

"A year," Anubis responded. "She hid me in her home in the Midwest until a GAMA registration agent brought us to DC to fill up papers on whether or not I blended in or we worked for them."

"Before you ask, working for GAMA was _not_ my idea!" Marion filled one of the mugs after making the water run in the sink.

"But what about your parents? Do they know?" Steve asked her.

"Dead in a car crash." Marion gave Cap the first full mug and returned with the second full one for Anubis.

"Not my fault." Anubis shook his head.

"You went soft when we found a mother wolf stuck in a trap and you begged me to let her go back to her pups," Marion teased. She went back to fill the last cup.

"So what are you planning to do now that you know that your paternal..." Cap began to ask.

"I call him by his first name rather than 'father'." Anubis held up his hand. "And to answer your question... I have no idea."

"You _did_ know for an entire year that your old man was after your bling," Marion pointed out as she came back with her mug in hand. She even tapped on her collarbone to refer to the Eye of Ra.

"I assumed it would have taken him longer. If I had run off anywhere in the Eastern Hemisphere, any Rapharion could have easily located me, but if I had gone West, it would have been harder for them because going west is considered bad luck for Rapharions."

"The West Side is bad luck for Egyptian Gods?" Steve said. His facial expression of disbelief was too hard to describe. If the story had been a sitcom, he'd be the guy to say _'Sure, and I could be Molière dancing in an Ancient Greek tutu!'_

"Yeah, you know... Myths say Ra died at sunrise and the sun sets in the west, the deadly Sahara desert mostly spreads in the west..." He stopped to look at his mug. For a moment, he could have sworn he saw the equivalent of a red stain inside his mug, but that was before it started dissolving into the full drink like red dye.

"This can't be good." Steve looked at his own mug. The water in his was getting red like Anubis' but thicker. Meanwhile, Marion's was boiling up.

"Guys, why are we even bothering?" She asked.

They threw their mugs at the furthest wall and got up. Before they could reach the door, they stopped to see in horror to see the liquid agitate like a sentient liquid. Once it started moving upward to form a body, they made a run for the hallway, shutting the door behind them.

"What the Hell was that?" Steve shouted.

The door bursted open like a horizontal cascade of red liquid.

"My best guess? Seth used the few powers he had left from the Eye of Ra to remake my ten plagues of Egypt!" Anubis pushed them down the stairs, the red liquid following them. "Evidently, we are being pursued by the First Plague! The Nile River turning into blood!"

"And _my_ best guess is that we're toast!" They finally hit the first floor and headed for the front door. "What's the plan? This isn't an IN like those we deal with!"

"What would you guys do if it were?" Steve shouted.

"Normally we'd bring the physical fighting into the Mirror Dimension and then deal with the registration issue later, but knowing the Eye of Ra's possible negative effects on Seth, I think the Mirror Dimension would just make us deal with cascading blood coming from all directions!"

They slapped the door behind them. Anubis sank his clawed hands into the sidewalk. Orange glowing roots of magic emerged, sending rippling waves that covered the surrounding buildings, passing cars, and walking pedestrians. Some stopped to see what was going on after the waves disappeared.

"What did you just do?" Steve asked.

"Magical force field. We can fight the plague without getting any collateral damage." Anubis said with a relieved smile.

"Gee, where were you when the Battle of New York occurred?" Captain America asked sarcastically.

"I was in Egypt being hated by all my peers."

The door from the apartment building exploded through another geyser of blood. People ran away as fast as they could from the scene, screaming at the top of their lungs. Cap pulled out his shield, Marion prepared her gun, and Anubis simply held out his hand to generate an ankh scepter.

"Get ready," Cap said.

All the surrounding manholes exploded into geysers of blood. They watched in horror as the blood gathered to form a giant humanoid made of bloody human flesh. It stared right at them with its blank, white ominous lies.

"So when you said 'collateral damage', you meant anything that was man or _manmade_ ," Cap guessed.

"Yeah, uh..." Anubis gulped nervously. "I tried sparing _humans_ and their living areas from getting destroyed, but I didn't think about sparing _natural_ stuff like plants, animals, and other natural elements."

"This guy did." Marion pointed her gun at the First Plague.

" **Nile is at the service of the Mighty Seth.** " The creature of blood declared at the top of its... come to think of it, did it have blood-made lungs? " **Nile must return the Eye and the son to the Mighty Seth!** "


	5. Blood In Dupont

Chapter 5: Blood In Dupont

Cap was the first to take action by throwing out his shield at Nile.

"Are you nuts? It will go right through it!" Marion shouted at the World War II veteran.

Nile hissed. Before the shield could plunge into its moving blood upper body, a hole opened up in the right chest, let the shield through, and closed back up. The same process happened with the left chest when the shield came back into Captain America's hand.

They were speechless. "OK. It _literally_ went through," Marion said.

Nile took a large inhaling and spit out a massive amount of blood at them. Anubis ran up and swung his ankh scepter, hitting the attack away like a baseball. It hit the nearest building and slid down to the sidewalk, only to reform into a human sized Nile. The original one gave a grin of dripping blood at his tiny clone. As the clone stood on a patch of dirt, Anubis noticed the grass blackening and dissolving into piles of dust.

"Seth used hydra blood to make his version of the First Plague!" Anubis exclaimed and backed up. "Be cautious! It's lethal to mortals!"

Cap pulled Marion behind him while he held up his shield. "Any Plan B?" He asked.

"You to go figure out a plan while I deal with this freak!" Anubis swung his scepter. "If Seth wants me, we will have to go through my dead body!"

Nile the Original started vomiting all over the space that separated him and the god. Another dozen of mini Nile clones emerged and marched towards Anubis, who now looked like he wished he had shut his big mouth. Meanwhile, Cap and Marion rushed inside a nearby restaurant. The local citizens who had rushed inside the restaurant made room for them and quickly locked the door behind them. A waiter clogged the door with towels to prevent any sentient blood from leaking in.

"I'm totally clueless on this one!" Marion exclaimed. "I deal with Immortal Nonconformists that must be placed under registration! Not the blood-made minion of some lethal god!"

"If Seth made his own copy of the Plagues of Egypt, then it should have a weakness," Cap said. "Didn't the Old Testament mention how to get rid of the plagues?"

"No!" Marion shook her head. She went back to the window. Outside, Anubis was trying in vain to slash away the clones. Then, Marion frowned. "Nile only sucked water from the sewer lines. And if Anubis used a magical force field to protect everything that was man or man made, then the water from the house pipe lines should have been at Nile's mercy..."

"So?"

"Did you ever read the Bible? 'The river will be able to stink and the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.' Seems like only _disgusting_ water like the polluted kind makes Nile stronger, whereas when we was in clean, he only had enough power to chase us or attempt to poison us." She paused to see Anubis throwing off a Nile clone right on the window. The thing slid down, its gory cheek pressed on the glass, very slowly.

A kid walked over and tugged on her jeans. She looked down and saw a little boy holding up a flask full of water. "Holy water? To chase off the pagans?"

"Did your church bless it?" Marion asked the boy. He nodded. "Thanks, kiddo." She grabbed the flask and her gun, turning a few switches so that she could open a small slot and place the flask in it.

"You're going to shoot holy water at a hydro behemoth made of blood?" Cap asked incredulously.

"What? G.A.M.A gives guns with multiple functions for multiple situations!" Marion grabbed her gun and started making her way for the door. "Nile's body regenerated when you threw your shield through its body. If we time it right, I can make the shot so that you throw your shield and I manage to get the holy water in Nile's chest _before_ he closes it."

"We need a diversion," Cap said. He cautiously opened the door. Thanks to all his hitting, Anubis was being surrounded by hundreds of Nile clones at the Dupont Fountain, with the original one following behind them. "I'll try to get Nile's attention. While I hit him from the front, you take the opportunity to shoot the holy water from behind."

"Got it."

"As for all of you, stay inside!" Cap told the civilians. He grabbed his shield and made a run for Nile, throwing his shield through the monster's excuse of a dissected hip. Naturally, Nile didn't hiss to complain, but he did turn its head to stare at Cap. "Why don't you fight somebody of your own blood type?" Cap taunted.

"He seriously said that?" Anubis said as he sliced in half another Nile clone, only to get two new clones who seemed to gasp in disbelief as well.

" **Nile's children will take care of the son. Nile will have the honor to challenge Steve Rogers**." Nile's blood dripping grin was pasted on its face as the First Plague began chasing Cap. Marion watched and waited from the restaurant door while Captain America threw his shield at Nile, only for the monster to keep closing and opening gaps on his chest as the shield went through. By the time Cap led Nile towards Connecticut Avenue, right in the tunnel beneath Q Street, Marion made her move. She ran out of the building, on the street, and towards Q Street, very grateful that the Nile clones were dumb enough to not notice her. She pulled out her gun and aimed carefully while Cap was carefully backing up and Nile was dangerously approaching him.

" **Nile wonders why Steve Rogers keeps insisting on an endless combat,** " Nile hissed. " **Why fight for the selfish modern men? Why try repeating history itself and its inner plagues?** " Nile held out its blood arms, moving towards the Avenger as if to give him a poisoned hug. " **Nile can offer an escape route to Steve Rogers. An instant reunion with the past men who truly appreciate his dedications to all life.** "

"Sorry. I don't feel like cuddling!" Cap threw his shield at Nile once again. Nile reopened another gap, and with all the blood rushing noises he made while doing so, Marion's gun clicked. As the shield passed, the holy water bottle flew right into Nile's left chest. The blood agitated to close the gap and its force crashed the bottle, liberating the holy water.

Nile began to twist its body, dissolve and recompose, its clones reacting the same way. It was like watching the Scream painting being washed away, only for someone to try repainting it, but in an amateur way. All the blood started to sink back in the sewers like dehydrated corpses trying in vain to find an underground oasis. As Nile was the last one to disappear through the manholes, Captain America and Marion noticed something off about Nile as its blood sank off. It was like the blood was forming some kind of webbed cage, concealing a wailing soldier that got dragged into the manhole.

Only the sounds of barking dogs were heard. Marion jumped down to join Cap and Anubis came in, running in his jackal form. "Did Nile leave?" He asked as he turned back into his man form.

"Yeah," Marion said. "Turns out that the First Plague can be weakened by holy water. He must have run off, worried that I might have more."

"He also had a prisoner with him," Cap added. "A human prisoner. A soldier."

"Alive?" Anubis' eyes widened as Cap and Marion nodded. "Oh God..."

 _Later, back in GAMA_

"Seth is using human hosts!" Anubis kicked the conference doors open. Everyone in the room stared at him, blinking, except for Thor.

"Dog Breath! Old friend!" The thunder god said in excitement.

"Goldie Thunder Locks!" The mummification god squealed in delight. He ran down the steps and immediately fist bumped with Thor before doing a buddy hug. "God, it's been millenniums!"

"I know!" Thor chuckled.

"You got commando hair!"

"Yeah, a creepy man cut them off."

"And you got an eye patch!" Anubis pointed at the eye patch Thor now had. "You look like Odin!"

"Yeah, my sister cut it off and Ragnarok came, Asgard exploded..."

"You finally met Hela?"

"You know her?"

"Friend, I know all the death gods..."

"Ahem." Marion cleared her throat, making the two gods pause in their budding moment. "I know you two haven't seen each other in eras, but can we stick to the present?"

"Right." Anubis and Thor straightened themselves. Some of the Avengers chuckled in amusement at the sight. Anubis then looked up and spotted Vision. The Mind Stone and the Soul Stone started giving out dim yellow and orange glows. The eyes of both wielders also brightened.

"What's happening?" Natasha asked.

"Incredible," the female leader of the Science Division said in fascination. "When Anubis' Eye of Ra came in contact with Dr. Strange's Eye of Agamotto, explosions were caused. Whereas with Vision, it looks like a bond is being formed."

"It's logical," Zoë agreed. "Anubis has the Soul Stone while Vision has the Mind Stone. Could it be possible that when perfectly paired, an Infinity Stone can stabilize with its sister counterpart?"

"I thought human science said that mind and soul where completely different," Bonnie said.

"You're right, but they function together," Tony told Bonnie. "The brain directs the body physically, but the heart directs the emotions."

The stones and the eyes stopped glowing. Vision dropped on his knees as if he had just gone through a running marathon while Anubis bent down as if contemplating the android.

" _I have seen your mind_." Vision looked up at Anubis. " _I have seen chagrin, rejection, disrespect, and not much love to give when you have none to receive. I have seen your memories. The ones you had of the other Rapharions scorning you were the darkest. The times you've had with your Mother Isis were the most beautiful. I have seen your moralities. You have self-loathing in yourself and your dark ancestry, but you have respect for humans and seek to protect them. You have spread the original ten plagues of Egypt in the sole goal to help Moses free the Hebrews... at the price of posing as another god._ " He turned and looked at Marion. " _You value your bond with Romanson and seek to protect her._ "

Marion turned her head, unable to look at Anubis.

"I've seen your heart," Anubis responded. "Like me, you were conceived by a malevolent being. But you are full of pureness and innocence. You were capable to lift Mjolnir. You have yet to learn of human emotions, but you strive to do what is best for others depending on the logic that you receive and understand." He blinked a bit in confusion. "And against everything that mortal sci-fi movies suggest, you have some pretty intense feelings for Wanda Maximoff."

"Wait. Vision has a crush on the Scarlet Witch?" Bonnie oohed. The android got up, not knowing that traditionally, a human would blush.

"What was that for?" Marion reprimanded Anubis by punching him on the arm.

"What?" He protested. "Our stones caused us to have a telepathic and empathic bond. Not my fault if I can see what's in his heart!"

"Yeah, after this meeting, you and I are going to have a serious talk about insensitivity!" She scolded him. Anubis pouted and straightened himself. He turned to the podium where Tiresias was sitting and bowed.

"Lord Tiresias, while I am certain you already know this, I must inform you that Seth has created his own version of my plagues," he said. "He is using them to come after the Eye of Ra and myself."

"We've seen the footage." The leader of the Nimrod Division clicked a button and showed the footage of the fight, followed by the duo and Cap cleaning up the area and Anubis using a spell to erase the event from the memories of the civilians. "An excellent job, you two. Very clever, Marion, your technique on using holy water to weaken the monster. I'll ensure that all our Nimrod agents are accompanied by holy water filled guns should Nile ever reappear."

"Sure, we won a battle but not the war," Marion said. "While Nile was fleeing, Captain America and I saw a human soldier being dragged in the blood."

"Alive?"

"Yes." Anubis joined in. "Seth must be kidnapping mortals to transform them into plagues to act as agents to find me and bring me over to him so that he can collect the Eye of Ra."

"How is it possible that your father managed to remake _your_ plagues?" Thor asked Anubis.

"My best guess? The dark matter from the Soul Stone."

"Dark matter?" Banner asked.

"The Infinity Stones are highly unpredictable, made of highly unstable masses of positive and dark matters," Anubis explained. "Their reactions depend solely on their wielders' motivations. Selflessness will allow the wielder to gain control on the light matter and its gifts. Selfish greed obviously gets dark matter. When Seth tried to possess the Eye of Ra, he got more powers but only from the dark matter. Whatever the light matter makes, the dark matter can make a darker version of it. I created the plagues of Egypt in the sole goal of freeing the Hebrews, therefore Seth can use the dark matter to corrupt the plagues."

"Weren't the original plagues already bad enough?" Tony asked.

"Hey, I wanted to stop but Ramses had to have a big ego!" Anubis arched an eyebrow.

"Point is, Seth can make his own plagues of Egypt to track Anubis," Cap said. "There's just something that ticks me off."

"You are ticked off by the words that Nile told you," Tiresias said.

"Why? What did he say, Steve?" Rhodey asked.

"He said something about repeating history and its plagues. He offered to kill me so that I could be dead with my 20th century comrades rather than stay with what he defined as 'the selfish modern men'."

"Offering a merciful kill?" Bonnie said. "Why would he do that?"

Marion snapped her fingers. "Nile was made of hydra blood! The Nile River turning into blood. The First Plague..." She looked at Cap. "Captain America, the _first_ Avenger! Seth must have had a backup plan! If he knew about the Avengers, he must have decided to create his own plagues to not only catch Anubis, but to also _plague_ the Avengers individually."

"You think he made Nile... to plague me?" Cap frowned.

"It does fit," Zoë agreed. "Hydra was the ancient Greek mythology monster that regenerated two heads if one was cut. That monster was the very same creature that inspired the name of HYDRA and its logo."

"'Cut one head off, two more grow,'" Cap repeated the logo he dreaded.

"Exactly. You've confronted the World War Two hydra and you were the very first superhero," Zoë continued. "By recreating the First Plague with hydra blood, Seth intended to get to you through Nile. After all, Nile could have just easily taken care of Anubis, but he just left his miniature clones to deal with Anubis while he personally dealt with _you_."

"So if we interfere, each Avenger will have to confront a plague?" Banner asked. "Remind me again what the plagues are."

"Nile River turning into blood, frogs, lice, flies, lethally sick livestock, boils, thunder and hail, locusts, darkness," Anubis listed before gulping, "and the death of the firstborn."

"And if we ignore the factions and the unofficial members like Ant Man, Spider Man, the Winter Soldier, and King T'Challa, the Avengers are Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision, War Machine, and Falcon," Marion counted. "It might not all be in that order, but those are the most likely targets."

"I'm going to go ahead to start betting that Thor gets the thunder and hail, Hulk gets the boils, and Iron Man gets the dead firstborn," Bonnie raised her hand. Everyone just glared at her. "What? I'm a banshee. You can't expect me to wave pom-poms!"

"Great." Tony rolled his eyes and looked at Tiresias. "So I know you guys have a rules of classification, but Ross will want to know about GAMA and Seth's plague..."

"I am sorry, Iron Man, but for now the US government must not be aware of our existence," Tiresias said.

"I don't want to judge, but you do realize that by now, at least fifty Washingtonians noticed that Dupont Circle got attacked by sentient blood?" Tony said incredulously.

"Hello, we erased their memories!" Bonnie snapped her fingers. "We sanitized the area, we cleaned their brains. For them, it will be like spending another random night in DC!"

"Do you ever shut up?" Tony grumbled.

"Sorry, Mr. Stark, but Bonnie has a point." Out of nowhere, Zoë pulled out a large, thick brown book that could match the thickness of a Bible. On the cover stood the golden typography _THE THEMIS PROTOCOLS._ She opened the book, put on a pair of reading glasses, and flipped through the pages until she landed in a page. "Section 4, Paragraph 5, declares that the divine immigration organizations shall remain among the classified data of their respective countries' secret services. The mortal governments and the citizens are forbidden to be aware of the existence of the organizations, the agents, and the hidden immortals and their mortal hosts. All Immortal Nonconformist hunts performed by Nimrods shall be performed in the shadows or in the Mirror Dimension. Any public exposure and the memories of the event must be erased."

"Seriously? You guys just hide?" Rhodey asked.

"No, we hide what the mortals are not ready to accept," Anubis said. "Colonel Rhodes, do you honestly think that if you were a random regular guy doing whatever in a town or a big city and you found out that the guy who works at the deli is actually an immigrated Cyclops, do you honestly think you could handle it? Or would you just run away screaming 'Help! Help! There's a Cyclops in the deli!'" Anubis waved his arms as if he were coming out of a haunted house and dropped them when Rhodey's facial expression said he got the point. "The whole purpose of the divine immigration organizations is to not only protect immortals from human persecution and allow them to blend in as humans, but to _protect_ mortals from what they aren't ready."

"So you would rather lie than tell the truth?" Cap asked in disapproval.

"Land of the free," Anubis shrugged.

" _Anubis is correct_ ," Vision agreed. " _While some may be eager to learn that gods and mythological creatures do exist, others would retaliate with fear, followed by incarceration and involuntary experimentation_."

"But what if an emergency occurred?" Natasha said. "Suppose there was a situation that GAMA couldn't control and needed actual governmental support?"

"That is a very good question, Agent Romanoff, but almost never used," the woman from the Science Division answered. "Each divine organization has one agent who serves as an ambassador between the organization and the country's government, but his or her services come only in a dire emergency."

"The last and only time we had to rely on the GAMA ambassador was back in the American Civil War." Zoë flipped through the pages of the Themis Protocols. "Grace Baxter. After the conflict between Confederate INs and Northern immortal settlers caused her immortal partner, a nymph, to be killed by a Confederate IN, she volunteered to step up as ambassador and used elaborate diplomacy to encourage a publically classified compromise to be published along with the Emancipation Proclamation in the goal to strengthen immortal and human relations." She groaned and shook her head. "Grace Baxter met the same fate as Lincoln. Lethal brain shooting, only hers was done by a former Confederate IN."

"Therefore you see why we avoid dealing with such situations," the woman from the Science Division told Natasha. "Even being an ambassador is dangerous, therefore GAMA's existence must remain secure."

"We understand." Steve nodded. "But suppose Seth attacked another country with his plagues?"

"Then it is not GAMA's business any longer," Tiresias said. "The Themis Protocols forbid the divine immigration organizations from contacting each other unless it is for a dire emergency. No agent can go to another country. Whatever threat happens in a country will be taken care off by the agents from that country's divine immigration organization."

"There are a few loopholes, though," Zoë pointed at a page. "If by any chance _one_ threat were to assault five different countries in a row, this would be labeled as an official global threat. That is the one time when the divine immigration organizations' ambassador can plead for a crisis meeting. It would include the U.N, the ambassadors, the countries, divine immigration organization leaders, and those organizations' number one duos. Only in such a crisis can such an assembly be called." She closed her book.

"Seth is after _me_ and I have no intention of leaving the country," Anubis said. "Therefore the main conflicts will have to occur in the U.S. I see no reason for him to try attacking other countries." He turned to face Vision. "Even though our stones managed to link us, it would be highly ill-advised for us to be close to one another or Dr. Strange or even Thor's ship."

" _Indeed._ " Vision nodded.

"I'd better get back to Wakanda," Cap got up. "The others will worry."

"Are there any divine immigration organizations in Wakanda?" Thor asked.

"We don't know." The Registration Division admitted. "They're so isolated from political issues until recently, even we don't know if they have INs or nimrods..."

Many of the Avengers groaned. Their jobs weren't getting easier.

 _Later_

Cap walked through the hallway leading to the hangar. GAMA was kind enough to let him use one of their jets to head to Wakanda. He had to warn his friends and T'Challa that Egyptian plagues would possibly target the Avengers.

Right when he got close to the hangar door, yellowish bandages wrapped around his arms and waist and dragged him into a janitor's closest. "What the heck?" He chocked when he saw the bandages unraveling and wrapping around Anubis' arms like cuff bracelets.

"Mummification god, remember?" Anubis pulled Steve down so that they could sit down among the buckets and mops. "Listen, I'm about to violate a few rules, so take my words in, alright?"

"Violate rules?" Cap asked. The god put a finger on his lips. "Sorry," Cap whispered.

"It's against divine immigration rules for GAMA to come in contact with other organizations, so if anyone asks you, you don't know that Marion accidentally has a contact from Norway."

"Norway?"

"Yes. Norway, Sweden, and Finland are the only known divine immigration organizations to collaborate. They're the Scandinavian League," Anubis continued. "Anyway, Marion knew this girl back from her hometown who went on a school program trip in Norway and never returned. Folks claimed she died in ice. But a couple of months after Marion and I joined GAMA, we went chasing this IN through the Mirror Dimension... and we accidentally stumbled on NU agents."

"NU agents? Is that the Norwegian organization?"

"Yes, it's short for Northern lights Union. Anyway, it was a human and immortal duo, like us, except NU has... different application modes than GAMA does. Marion recognized the human as her old friend. We... kind of broke the rule by communicating with them after e arrested or INs." He waved his wrist. Out of nowhere appeared a yellow scroll hardly bigger than Cap's own thumb. "It's illegal, but Marion has been writing letters to her human friend. She and her immortal are living in Tønsberg."

"Thanks." Cap took the scroll and slid it in his uniform pocket. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. When Thor asked about Wakanda, I suddenly remembered that I'm not the only Rapharion on the loose. Sekmeth, the warrior goddess, sacrificed half of her immortality so that she could retire among the Wakandans. I heard through gossip back home and a bit among the other immortals at GAMA that she's still there. If you're desperate, seek her for an alliance. She hates Seth's guts as much as I do."

"When did she retire to Wakanda?" Steve asked.

"During the Egyptian revolution." Anubis got up. Steve frowned at him. "Sorry, I forgot you were still in the ice. The stuff happened in 1952."

"Figures."

Anubis held out his hand. Steve took a moment to accept his offer and got up. After checking that no agent was passing, the two men got out of the closet. The god followed the captain to the hangar, where a blue GAMA jet awaited him.

"It was really an honor knowing you, Captain," Anubis admitted. "Out of all the selfless mortal souls I've encountered in the afterlife, none of them were as unique as you."

"I get that a lot," Steve shrugged.

"But still! To start as an insignificant grain among the bowl of rice, but to still remain a righteous heart despite bulking up!" Anubis made the gestures of growth with his hands. "True, the accords have ruined the avengers, but you're the purest when it comes to believing in individual freedom and second chances. I mean, you risked your own reputation and status just to save your friend James!" Anubis sighed while the jet opened up. "I wish sometimes that I had your worth."

"What about you?" Steve turned to face Anubis before stepping in the jet. "Have you found your worth yet?"  
Anubis bit his lip, the Eye of Ra seemingly agitating to his hesitation. He clasped his hands together. "You know, Captain, the main thing that separates in you and me is that bloodline never destroyed your chances. But me? I'm the son of the most hated god in all of Egypt, _he_ didn't even want me to exist. My biological mother let herself be killed while only her sister bothered to love me. But my uncle Osiris, my cousin Horus, and the Rapharions? To them, I am the Rapharion Loki, but Asgard had _some_ love for Loki despite his crimes. I never got the privilege. The Rapharions hate the son of Seth, the mortals respect me only as the dreaded death god, and to crown it all, everyone back home hated me for this thing choosing me as its guardian." He tapped at the Eye of Ra, which caused a small crack of orange energy to twinkle.

"I felt like a coward when mother Isis told me to run west with the Eye of Ra before Seth could attack the city." Anubis sighed in shame before smiling. "But getting to America? The land of the free and the home of the brave? To dissolve among the humans and be treated equally, not like a worshipped god but as a friend, was like a dream come true. Having a real friend like Marion was a treasured miracle. Joining the Gods And Men Association to help immortals and humans blend in made me feel like I made a positive difference." He then lost his smile. "But at the same time I feel like I owe my services to them as penance for being Seth's child, and as a god, I must do my duties."

"Because you want to or because you feel like you need to follow the rules?" Steve asked. Anubis said nothing. "You know why I chose to not sign the Sokovia Accords?"

"Yes, because you believe in individual freedom and that signing would mean losing your free right to choose."

Steve nodded and placed a hand on Anubis' left arm. "You're well-intended, Anubis, and it's clear that you want what's best for everyone as much as the others do, but at the same time you let your fear of Seth burden you so much, you're willing to just comply to others making the rules for you. And that's not giving you a right to choose, is it?"

"I'm a god," Anubis said firmly. "I can't choose to neglect my duties."

"But you're still a person." Steve let go of him. "And you can choose to do what you think is right."

Anubis gave him the US military salute, which Steve returned before stepping inside the jet. The hatch closed behind him and he took his seat. The moment he turned the propulsers on and started taking off. An orange glow appeared out of nowhere on the seat next to him, which made him smirk when he saw Anubis appearing on the seat.

"Just so I know, were you just giving me a pep chat or were you actually enticing me to break the rules and join you?" Anubis asked nervously while they flew through the tunnel that led out of GAMA.

Steve smirked. "You tell me, soldier."

Anubis rolled his eyes and fastened his seatbelt. "Eh. I'm in a jet heading for Wakanda with Captain America!" He exclaimed with glee once they took off into the sky.

 _Meanwhile_

Seth's eyes popped open from his meditation. He got up and faced Amphibian and Nile, who managed to recover from his incident in Washington DC.

"My flesh and blood is returning to the East," he said. "He's with Captain America."

" **Nile can go after Steve Rogers again** ," Nile volunteered. " **This time, Wakanda won't have holy water to weaken Nile.** "

"Patience, Nile." Seth held out his hand. "Besides, I have a vision that Amphibian's turn for playtime will take place in Wakanda... and there we will find not only another Rapharion, but the next plague!"


	6. The Goddess in Wakanda

Chapter 6: The Goddess in Wakanda

After two hours of flying in advanced technology, the GAMA jet managed to reach the Eastern Hemisphere. Thanks to different time zones, it was already an hour before dawn when the automated pilot brought them above the African skies.

The jet's coffee machine dinged. Anubis got up and came back with two paper cups full of dark coffee. "I hope you don't mind caffeinated drinks," he told Steve as he handed him one of the cups. "It's the only kind of beverage permitted in the organization's transportation."

Steve drank from his cup and checked the monitors while Anubis went back to his own seat. The jet headed right for a mountainous area dominated by clouds shielding the rising sun. "We should arrive in Wakanda in about an hour," Steve said.

"Shouldn't you alert your friends and King T'Challa?" Anubis asked.

"Not really. They already know that I had to take an American areal form of transportation to get back. They have sensors outside the city that can detect who is approaching before deciding whether to open up the protective shield or not."

"Not the jet part." The god shook his head. "The fact that you're bringing another Rapharion to Wakanda."

"That shouldn't be much of a problem," Steve shrugged. "After all, they let Sekmeth take sanctuary in Wakanda. Why would you be any different?"

"Actually, only Bast and Sekmeth were known to be permitted in Wakanda among the Rapharions," Anubis said as he opened up a glove compartment and pulled out a blue notebook. "Though Wakanda doesn't appear to be picky on the immortals that come and go there, they are very mixed in cults, and their strongest are those based on their feline beliefs and the legend of the Black Panther. As Bast and Sekmeth are the only known goddesses to be feline-based, they easily made god- worshipped- territory there. You know, like how Athens primarily worshiped Athena and Sparta with Ares. Once a god takes claim on a city culturally, no other god can butt in."

"Uh," Steve said.

Anubis took a sip of coffee. "I won't lie, I was always fascinated in learning about Wakandan history and lifestyle, but because of classic cat versus dog issues, I avoid going there to stir Bast and Sekmeth's resentment." He flipped through the book he had pulled out. "But with Bast dead and the other Rapharions gone, I hope Sekmeth doesn't try to kill me for bringing over the bad news."

"Before Bast died, she told Thor that Seth had attacked your city right after the Vienna bombing," Steve pointed out. "King T'Chaka died during that event, and just before the announcement of the Sokovia Accords, we... the Avengers accidentally caused a building to explode, with Wakandan humanitarians in it."

"I know, I read an article about it back when I first started in GAMA." Anubis tapped a button and pulled out a holographic computer system. He proceeded to tap on it. "Searching the Themis Protocols data." A list appeared. "List of all the countries with divine immigration organizations."

 **ALPHA** : Armenia. Armenian Legislation for Paranormal or Human Activities. **  
BETA** : Indonesia. Borneo Enforcement of Transitioning Aswangs

 **GAMA** : United States. Gods and Men Association.

 **DELTA** : India. Dehli Executives for Loading Transferring Aliens

 **EPSILON** : Pakistan. Erudite Pakistani In Localizing Oversea Newcomers.

 **ZETA** : Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Establishment for Transferring Aliens.

 **ETA** : Turkey. Erzurum Titans' Administration

 **THETA** : Finland. The Helsinki Establishment for Titan Affairs ( _part of the Scandinavian League)_

 **IOTA** : Chile. Illapel Organization for Titan Affairs.

 **KAPPA** : South Korea. Korean Assessment Providing Protection to Aliens.

 **LAMBDA** : Greenland and Canada. Lords of Aasiaat and Manitoba Bureau for Deities and Aborigines

 **MU:** Madagascar. The Malagasy Union.

 **NU** : Norway. Northern Lights Union ( _part of the Scandinavian League)_

 **XI** : China. Xiamen Internals _(co-worker of TAU)_

 **PI** : Egypt. Pharaohs Intervention

 **RHO** : Italy. Rome's House of the Oppressed

 **SIGMA** : Sweden. Stockholm Internal Guardians from Mortal Awareness ( _part of the Scandinavian League_ )

 **TAU** : Tokyo Affairs for the Universal _(co-worker of XI)_

 **UPSILON** : France. Upper Parisian Semi-Inventory Legality of Olympian Nationalism

 **PHI** : Portugal. Portuguese House of Immortals _(co-worker of CHI)_

 **CHI** : England. Cambridge House of Immortals _(co-worker of CHI)_

 **PSI** : Germany. Paranormal Stuttgart Investigators

 **OMEGA** : Morocco. Ouazzane Magistrates Establishment for Godly Aliens.

"I won't get into the other countries and their ridiculous acronyms, but these twenty-three are the big guys among the others," Anubis said. He used his powers to slowly burn up his empty cup of coffee as if he were roasting up a smore.

"193 countries in the world, 193 in the UN, therefore 193 different organizations that handle immortals blending with humans," Steve said. The jet began to lower down as they approached Wakandan territory. "Among the 170 that you didn't mention, what countries are in the 'W' category?"

Anubis typed on his holographic screen, which proceeded to turn red. "Sorry, I got nothing between Vietnam's VOTE and Yemen's YOGA."

" _Vote yoga?_ " Steve arched an eyebrow.

"Vi Thanh's Occult Territorial Engagement and the Yin-yang Organization of Guarding Aliens." Anubis stashed the book back in the compartment. "They're clearly co-working."

The jet shook unexpectedly and the alarm went on. "We got hit!" Steve held his grasp on the controls.

"I thought Wakanda was your ally... Oh, wait, I forgot. They don't know I'm here!" Anubis got off his seat and defied gravity by walking on the walls. "Keep figuring out a way to land safely while I make sure that we don't die!"

He reopened the hatch. Using his sharp nails, Anubis hiked his way up until he struggled to stand on the top of the jet. He stared at their surroundings. They were about to crash onto a massive cliff.

"Ra, I pray you..." He prayed. He aligned his arms and aimed his focus at the energy he was creating. The Eye of Ra made his body glow while a large orange formed, shielding him and the jet. He kept focusing, strengthening the shield. A shock wave came, nearly destabilizing him. Next thing he knew, the rocky obstacle was replaced by a massive city of metal and hovering jets.

"W... Wow!" He gasped. Anubis was in Wakanda.

He suddenly started blinking and lost consciousness. Using the Eye of Ra to protect the jet had drained a good amount of his energy, and now that he fainted, the jet was plummeting in a straight vertical line.

Cap kicked the jet window open and grabbed Anubis before the latter could fall into the air. His other hand held onto the jet as desperately as he could. "Anubis!" He shouted.

The jet got closer to the ground, it would have crashed if Steve hadn't recognized Wanda's telekinesis catching the jet and bringing it down as best as she could on the plane platform annexed to the Wakandan palace. Once it was safely placed on firm land, Dora Milaje soldiers came in with a patient trolley while T'Challa and Wanda came in the scene.

"The city sensors saw me coming, T'Challa," Steve said once he jumped off the jet and let two Dora Milaje soldiers take Anubis and place the unconscious god on the trolley. "Why did they hit the jet?"

"Forgive me, Rogers," the king apologized, "but we had to go through some doubled security measures."

"What happened?"

"Someone tried to break into Wakanda an hour after the others and I came back," Wanda explained. "Because the attackers' body energy signature matched the one of your friend, the security mistook him as the aggressor."

Steve scowled. " _Nile._ "

 _Minutes later_

"Let me see if I got this straight," Sam said while he, the other anti-accords vigilantes, and T'Challa waited in the royal dining room for others to show up. "Egyptian gods are real, one of them has the same kind of stone Vision has, and the other guy is his dad who created a bunch of bad guys who are also supposed to individually challenge the Avengers."

"Well so far we only met one," Steve pointed out. He noticed Scott fidgeting on his lounge seat. "Relax, Scott. You're not an official Avenger. I don't think Seth will bother sending his plagues after your daughter."

"Deities are far more unpredictable than mortals," T'Challa said as he stared at the large window showing a great view of the city. He had his arms behind his back and his fingers were rubbing on his royal ring. "Even though he had never put his foot in Wakanda, the reputation of the evil Rapharion is legendary. Sekmeth, Bast, and their priests and descendants would always have an alibi of how his twisted ways were as unpredictable as the sand storms in the Western Egyptian desert. He loathes his brother, kills off all his unborn children, and murdered Nephtys when she purposely stayed away from him just to give birth to Anubis." He turned away from the window and walked down its steps. The left doors opened, making way for T'Challa's mother Queen Ramonda and his sister Princess Shuri. As the anti-Accords Avengers got up and respectfully bowed to the royal women, the right doors opened. Anubis came, fully recovered and accompanied by a dark-skinned woman who was a good two feet taller than him. Like Anubis, her eyes were not naturally human, but hers were of a deep red with feline irises and her eyebrows looked like they were made of pierced lion claws. Both her and Anubis wore black Maasai capes with Wakandan symmetrical patterns over white tunics and fitting gold sandals. The Eye of Ra was still visible and refused to be tucked under Anubis' cape, so the cape had to be tucked under the eye. Despite their different motifs, jackals and cats respectively, both Anubis and Sekmeth wore gold cuff bracelets and necklaces, had their hair straightened out, and had eyeliners applied. Overall, they looked like walking 2D Egyptian carvings.

Instinctively, T'Challa and his family went down on their knees and bowed to the gods. Queen Ramonda did the talking: "Great Rapharions, it is a great honor for the royal family of Wakanda to host you. Lady Sekmeth, patroness of the Black Panther and mother of the Dora Milaje warriors, we welcome you to the palace. Lord Anubis, protector of the venerated dead, welcome to our kingdom."

Sekmeth gave a mere nod to the queen. Anubis, on the other hand, was more grateful. "Thank you, Queen Ramonda. And please, there's no need for your family to bow to us."

"The 21st century has warped your mind," Sekmeth rolled her eyes.

"And as Wakandan customs require, we've organized a morning feast for you," Ramonda gestured to the large dining table, prepared to have for attendants the royal family and their guests, the Avengers and the two gods. Being given sanctuary by a monarch had its perks.

As they all sat down, all the doors reopened and servants came in, bringing in trays of native food and beverages. Others were busy playing some traditional Wakandan music on drums while the main party feasted. A priest of Sekmeth, as they all guessed based on his lion mask, came in carrying a large black bowl full of what looked like boiling soup moving in green and orange spirals.

"Per tradition," he said as he put the soup on the table. "Aside from the royal kings, only gods can drink soup made of Heart-Shaped Herb."

The Avengers pulled back when the odor reached their noses. Out of respects, they said no insulting words. "That is... one particular aroma," Steve commented.

"Only to repulse the greedy hearts," Shuri said.

Anubis dug his spoon into the soup and looked at the spiraling liquid in hesitation. Sekmeth gave him one of those ' _Do it if you're a man'_ glares. He gulped and swallowed the liquid, dropped his spoon, and just sat there like a stone statue, his eyes twitching as if he had been forced to eat car fuel.

"The infinite flavors hacked into your nerves yet?" Sekmeth asked smugly.

"You think?" Anubis' voice was weirdly helium pitched, it made the humans laugh.

"Yeah, you get used to it after five centuries of eating it," the goddess snickered.

Steve decided to change the subject. "I assume Anubis has told you about the Seth issue."

Sekmeth nodded and drank large spoonful quantities of the soup. "It was bound to happen anyway," she said.

"Cheerful lady," Scott said sourly.

"It's part of life," Sekmeth said. "You can always try to keep a wild beast caged, it will always find a way out. Even though Seth was put in an inter-dimensional, he was bound to escape some way or another. My best theory is that when the Eye of Ra chose to replace Seth's brother Osiris from the guardian duty by the dog here, the strength of Seth's prison must have weakened."

"Like that story Thor told us when he came back," Hawkeye said while cutting through some lamb meat. "He said that right after Odin died, the magic that imprisoned Thor's crazy sister Hela died out and she went out. Cue to Asgard exploding just to kill her."

"Except Seth already destroyed the Rapharions' city after I ran off and I can't seal him back in his prison because only the guardian who imprisoned Seth in the first place can imprison him once again," Anubis grumbled. "I can't even kill him."

"Why not?" T'Challa asked.

"After Seth tried to butcher Osiris and the other Rapharions had to reassemble the king, Queen Isis passed a divine rule that only Seth was excluded. No one is allowed to commit cold murder on biological relatives," Sekmeth explained. "Conclusion, Anubis can't kill Seth."

"Can't Seth offer a bit of conscience?" Shuri asked Anubis. "I mean, he is your father after all."

"Seth was nothing like your father," Anubis told Shuri in a very cold tone. "T'Chaka would have never killed his children even if a legal loophole told him he could. I, on the other hand, have around sixty older siblings who never got to see their first sunrise because Seth used what he had left from the Eye of Ra to kill them in the uterus."

"Couldn't you have resurrected them?" Wanda asked cautiously, her tone revealing that she was getting scared.

"No," Anubis shook his head in guilt.

"The Soul Gem in the Eye of Ra allows the guardian to take and give souls but only if they are natural," Sekmeth said. "Back in the old days, Anubis would remove dead mortals' souls from their bodies and guide them through their final judgment. Many stayed in the afterlife under the rule of Osiris. But if it seemed like some had just enough pureness in their hearts, Anubis could take their souls and plant them inside the next women expecting children. A rebirth can happen as many times as long as the heart is pure."

"But I only do the soul-handling if the mortals died from natural causes like old age, diseases, murder, exposure, and whatnot," Anubis added. "I warned my human host in advance that she should never touch the Eye of Ra. The weak ones can't handle the powerful Infinity Stones' energies, and because this one happens to be the Soul Stone, a mortal touching it directly would mean instant soul combustion."

They all stopped eating. The musicians stopped their beatings and the servants stopped their food servings, even the guards turned to look at Anubis as if he was joking about getting your soul roasted.

"You've been walking around for a million years wearing that thing?" Scott whistled. "I've heard of daredevil, but this is totally insane!"

Anubis gasped. "I beg your pardon! I haven't worn that thing on me except since last year when I had to run away from Seth! And besides, I'm not a million years old."

"You're not?" T'Challa frowned.

"No," Anubis said casually. "I just happen to be born in 3100 BC, so I'm actually 5518 years old."

Shuri, Wanda, and Queen Ramonda equally choked in their drinks. "I can't believe it, you beat Thor and Cap at the old man age!" Hawkeye snickered.

T'Challa cleared his throat. "Aside from your old age, I assume you and Sekmeth have at least an idea of how we can stop Seth's plagues from covering the world or depending on whatever his current game is with the Avengers?"

To answer his question, Sekmeth waved her hands and a black three-dimensional display of Egypt appeared. Anubis pointed his finger at it and the country got shielded by an orange circle holding what appeared to be a nine-pointed star made of three equilateral triangles. "Back when I released the plagues of Egypt in 1312 BC, I used a particular system where in each triangle, I aimed a particular area of Egypt to spread one plague. Eventually, once the three triangles were formed and nine areas in Egypt were plagued, it was capable of harnessing a heart that would hold up the tenth plague, but unlike the previous ones, it would cover _all_ of Egypt." He bit his lip. "Seth attacked DC with Nile, and he tried to send in an attack on Wakanda. My worst guess is that he'll be using nine different countries to eventually create his own heart that, once formed, will spread all over the world."

"This is more twisted than Ultron's plan to use Sokovia as a meteor to wipe out all of humanity," Wanda said, recalling the time when she had found out that her first boss, Ultron, was planning to eradicate humanity.

"Except many will die just for being firstborns," Sekmeth said. "Children and most likely adults." She looked at T'Challa when she said 'adults'. "But if what Anubis said is true about Seth using hydra blood to make a venomous First Plague, he might use lethal ways to make the next eight plagues before making an ultimately poisonous one that will be the Tenth Plague. Poisonous enough to kill _immortal_ firstborns."

"King T'Challa, where exactly in your kingdom did Seth's forces try to break in?" Anubis asked the king.

"Just at the northern border, not too far from the arena where the Dora Milaje warriors train," the king answered.

Anubis tapped on the Eye of Ra in thought. "With or without the security shield covering the city, a god could easily walk in," Sekmeth said.

"But he can't leave the pyramid of Giza unless he has the Eye. So far he has his personal army of humanoid Seth beasts and Nile," Anubis said. "By now, I'd either be expecting blood pouring everywhere or maybe Seth was hoping to find another human host. It's already bad enough that I can't put my finger on _why_ he'd want to make his own versions of _my_ plagues while capturing me and obtaining the Eye of Ra would just allow him to regain invincibility in the first place."

"Take over the world and enslave humanity?" Hawkeye suggested.

"Nah, Loki tried that." Anubis shook his head.

"And your biological paternal has an ego. It would be ridiculous if he didn't consider conquering the universe," Sekmeth snarked.

"Perhaps he wants to simply eradicate humans in what he believes is the best salvation solution," Wanda said. "When I saw Ultron's mind, I saw his belief that human extinction was the nest way to save the Earth... and replacing them with machines."

"But Seth isn't an artificial intelligence like Ultron," Sekmeth said. "Ultron's knowledge on humans and the Avengers was based purely on digital data and the Mind Stone's mentally informing energy. But Seth can understand anyone from their strengths to their weakness by literally looking into their souls, courtesy of Soul Stone wielding."

Right when the servants started clearing up the dishes, a strange noise came from outside. Anubis lifted his head up and his ears agitated. "My ears must be clogged. Did I hear screaming outside?"

This worried T'Challa and his sister. Both got off their seats and ran to the window. Despite being thirteen feet above ground, the royal siblings could see Wakandan civilians screaming and running in fright. Just then, Vision phased from the floor, startling everyone.

"Vis!" Wanda exclaimed in a mix of joy and frustration.

" _My apologies. I tracked Anubis in Wakanda after the Gods And Men Association noticed his absence and I phased through the security shield_ ," Vision said. " _It appears that the people are running away from a stampede_."

"Stampede?" Shuri looked back at the window. "I don't see any animals running on the loose."

" _Wakanda law enforcers outside have defined it as 'vermin stampede'_."

Anubis and Sekmeth stared at each other. "Curse Seth," they grumbled.

"Everybody suit up." Cap grabbed his shield. He turned to Vision. "Vis, you shouldn't have come."

" _I had to ensure that Anubis was safely returned to DC_ ," Vision said.

"Yeah, well, thanks to the fact that you followed me, Seth put you on a blind date with the Second Plague!" Anubis snarled before turning into a jackal.

 _Ten minutes later_

Just like back in Dupont Circle, Anubis had used his shielding spell to protect the buildings and the defenseless civilians. The only unprotected beings in the empty plaza just outside the palace were the Avengers, the two Rapharions, the Black Panther, and fifteen Dora Milaje warriors. Everyone looked both right and left. So far, no sign of the Second Plague. It was like walking through a futuristic cat-themed ghost town.

"Too quiet for my tastes," Hawkeye muttered as he readied his bow. While Vision floated above the group, Scott, who had shrunk to ant-size to communicate with some local ants, grew back to normal size.

"So, Tic-Tac?" Falcon asked.

"The ants confirmed the charges," Scott shook his head. "Right when Vision slipped through the city's shield, the ant hill closest to the Dora Milaje training arena got a case of underground eruption. They said it was black mercury..."

"Great," Sekmeth said. "Seth used black mercury to make the Second Plague. _Now_ he's mocking _me!_ " She flicked her wrists and her hands were now both holding twelve Egyptian sun disks versions of shurikens.

"Mercury was originally found in Egyptian tombs back in 1500 BC," the Black Panther said. "At least it explains why Seth used this poison to make the Second Plague."

"That was normal silver mercury!" Sekmeth snapped. " _Black_ mercury, on the other hand, is dangerous enough to make a Rapharion's skin burn for two straight monsoons, even after taking a thousand cold baths. I created it by amplifying normal mercury atoms and used black mercury to make all the stone foundations, statues, and booby traps in my temples after I got sick of Horus playing with his ego, hoarding my treasures and flirting with my priestesses!"

"Oh yeah, that was back in 1500 BC! The year when he begged me to give him that mummification spa treatment and I told him to go dive in the Nile!" Anubis snickered while he was sniffing the area. "That was a hilarious turn of the century!"

"I know, right?" Sekmeth snickered with him until she saw the mortals glaring at them and the two gods stopped.

" _Mercury poisoning is known to mentally affect humans_ ," Vision said. " _Seth must have anticipated that when he created the Second Plague by using black mercury, the stronger twin of normal mercury._ "

"But you're an android," Steve said. "You can't possibly be poisoned by something that kills fleshed-up people."

" **Amphibian can poison minds far better than Amphibian can poison bodies**."

They all turned and gasped. Out of nowhere, a lined up army of frogs faced them in the plaza. They looked like normal poison dart frogs, but they did not have the normal color patterns. Instead, they had black mercury skin with blood red colors of flattened 2D frogs, as if they had been made of tinier frogs that were melting away. And since the humans and gods were facing what looked like an army of seven hundred of those frogs, it looked more like facing a pool of black mercury and blood.

" **Amphibian will see you now, Vision.** " All the frogs spoke up in the same, monotone voices. But to the heroes, it sounded like 700 Visions talking at the same time. Then, at the center of the frog army, grew a mass of the black-and-red gunk until a webbed-handed and footed biped the height of Vision formed. Naturally, it was Amphibian, but to everyone else, it looked like the thing was more of a twisted version of Spiderman.

Vision floated in front of the group while they stood on guard. "Don't forget. These frogs are lethal," Sekmeth reminded everyone.

"Good to know," Steve said.

" _Amphibian, is it_?" Vision started the verbal communications. " _Why do you sound like me_?"

" **Because Amphibian is you, Vision. A master's creation... a vision of life. But while you Vision are a vision of artificial humanity, Amphibian is by far a superior vision of what is reality** ," Amphibian said. His frogs melted towards him as he slowly moved forward, making him look like he was surfing on small black waves.

"Please!" Sekmeth rolled her eyes and held up her sun disk shurikens. "What could your master possibly have as a vision of reality?"

"You know, that doesn't include him needing to see a psychiatrist?" Scott volunteered.

" _Amphibian, our masters have both made severe mistakes in the past,_ " Vision tried to play good cop with Amphibian. " _If you would think twice on what you are about to do, we could end this peacefully._ "

" **An amusing comment from a being of largely naive emotions,** " Amphibian said. " **However, if** _ **you**_ **were the one to think twice, you would hand over the son and the Eye of Ra to Anubis. You should be so lucky if the Mighty Seth were to spare your weak link.** " Amphibian's creepy red eyes looked behind Vision's shoulder. Everyone realized who he was looking at to make his point.

Wanda.

This made Vision angry. A yellow blast shot out of the Mind Stone, but Amphibian merely dodged it by slithering away from it.

"He dodged it," Anubis noticed.

" _You've lost your chances, Amphibian!_ " Vision started chasing and throwing blasts at Amphibian, who merely dodged them as if they were children playing a game of tag and he was mercilessly avoiding the tagger out of boredom. Since Amphibian was too busy dodging and messing with Vision, it left the others to notice that Amphibian used all of his black mercury substance in his little game, meaning there were no frogs to assault them.

"I feel ignored," Anubis said in a bit of displeasure. "At least Nile bothered to give me clones to deal with while he tried to plague Steve." He morphed back to human as they continued to watch Vision and Amphibian up in the air. "Do you guys notice how Amphibian keeps dodging Vision's blasts but never attacking back?"

"Seth made Amphibian to meddle with Vision mentally," Wanda said. "But if Amphibian is as dodging as he is emotionally manipulative, it could mean that he can't handle physical attacks."

Steve nodded. "Nile got stronger through polluted water but he got easily weakened by a bottle of holy water that he had to retreat."

"And normal mercury can be weakened by clean energy," Black Panther said. He turned to Sekmeth. "Lady Sekmeth, you are one of the Egyptian sun gods. Could your sun disk shurikens harm Amphibian?"

"Only enough to burn his arms..." Her eyes widened and her lips pursed into a smirk as she looked at Anubis. "But..."

"Oh no," he said.

"Hey, you have the Eye of Ra, which belonged to Ra the Ultimate Sun King!" Sekmeth crossed her arms. "You could easily amplify the solar heat and make Amphibian dissolve!"

"Uh huh, yeah, but question: how would that work out?" Anubis asked drily. "I can't just increase the chances of global warming or accidently expose Wakanda to potential hazardous mercury!"

"Anubis is right!" T'Challa exclaimed. "The black mercury could have lethal mental impact on half of my kingdom! The first thing we'd need to worry about is how to seal up the substance once Amphibian dissolves!"

"I got it!" Anubis snapped his fingers and turned to Steve. "Remember when Nile ran away from holy water exposure? He was dragging a living human body in his veins!"

"So if Nile had a human host," Steve looked up at the fight above; it looked like Vision was slowly tiring. "Amphibian has his own host trapped under the mercury skin."

"Bad guys just get weirder every day," Hawkeye shook his head.

"Here's the idea," Anubis said. "You guys can't touch him, but that doesn't mean you can't _throw_ stuff at him. You'd encircle him in an arc formation. Wanda and Sekmeth would hit him from the right, Hawkeye and Cap on the left, and Black Panther and the Dora Milaje on the front. While Amphibian gets distracted by either finishing off Vision or dealing with his buggers, Scott turns into Giant-Man and throws me and Falcon up in the air. Falcon brings me up as high as he can and throws me as close as he can towards the sun before flying back down and assisting the others. From my close distance to the sun, I can have the Eye of Ra absorb as much solar energy as possible to blind Amphibian and make his mercury body plummet towards the Earth. Once that happens, Wanda tries to contain the black mercury as long as she can or until Sekmeth can summon one of those vibranium enhanced glass cases to trap in the mercury. Any questions?"

"Let me get this straight." Scott pointed at the sun in the sky with an incredulous tone. "You want me and Falcon to throw you towards the sun?"

"Hash-tag it on Facebook if you're desperate," Anubis said.

"And you want _me_ to contain living mercury?" Wanda added. "You did learn what happened in Lagos, right?"

Anubis sighed, walked over to Wanda, and placed his comforting hands on her shoulders. "Wanda, I know you have some deep traumatic issues. You have peculiar powers that estrange from your friends and random people. You try your hardest to be a hero, and I understand this kind of situation is beyond you, but..." He tightened his hold on her to the point that she groaned in pain and he spoke darkly to her. "If you don't do this, your boyfriend will get killed by a frog, you will get chased by a plague twining you, and the world will end. Got it?"

Wanda looked shocked at first by his sudden dark tone, but she stiffened and nodded with a determined look. "I'll do it."

"This guy really ain't some pep rally leader," Falcon said.

"Anybody who's not an immortal, remember what they taught you at school. Don't look at the sun." Anubis shook his hand and formed a pair of sunglasses that he placed over his eyes. "Today's Wakandan weather forecast. Unexpected sunshine and dog days."


	7. Anubis Brings On The Dog Heat

Chapter 7: Anubis Brings On The Dog Heat

Vision was close to running out of fuel. Even with the Mind Stone empowering him, it still managed to weaken the android's energy. The fact that his last blast was weak enough to only charge a toothbrush battery proved how drastic the situation was becoming. He was getting weak and Amphibian was now daring to move his slimy way towards him.

" **Amphibian warned you that Amphibian was the superior vision** ," he taunted, his mouth-free face moving despite the lack of a jawline.

" _What... kind of vision... are you?_ " Vision gasped.

" **A vision of what is true. How unstable the world is through the poisoned evolution of man that makes the powerful unworthy, the governing selfish, and the weak prejudiced** ," Amphibian said. " **If you let Amphibian reunite the son and the eye to the Mighty Seth, you can see what the world must be like. The greedy, unworthy ones cleansed out, leaving birth to a younger civilization molded to understand and appreciate the rightful rule of one who possesses the Soul Stone.** "

" _Can't you see... that your master's mind is dangerously fogged?_ " Vision panted while Amphibian now stood one foot away from him. One physical touch and Vision could be poisoned. " _How is killing all firstborns and enslaving the younger group of humanity a salvation solution_?"

Amphibian snickered. He raised up his arms and their substance morphed to create black mercury axe blades instead of hands. " **You are a simpleton, Vision. Do you honestly believe that mortals and immortal youngest-born are the only things that the Mighty Seth wishes to remold?** "

"REMOLD THIS!" He heard Wanda shout. The next thing Amphibian knew was that he spent the next five minutes dodging uprooted trees being levitated by Wanda, Sekmeth and Captain America throwing their sun disk shurikens and shield respectively, and Black Panther, the Dora Milaje, and Hawkeye shooting vibranium-tipped spears or arrows at him. Amphibian was desperately dodging the charges as if he were avoiding impaling spikes emerging from walls in a temple.

Meanwhile, behind a building twelve feet away from the battle, Falcon was making sure that his arms were holding up Anubis very well while Scott prepared himself.

"I should warn you, I'm not sure how far I can throw," Scott said.

"Just throw us," Anubis said. "Falcon's the one who has to worry about not turning into fried chicken wings."

"Gee, thanks," Falcon said.

"Get ready for the touchdown!" Scott morphed into Giant-man and grabbed Falcon's ankle with his massive fingers. Good thing the fight next door was so loud, nobody heard a guy with metal wings screaming as he got thrown towards the sun.

"I think I'm going to throw up!" Falcon warned as he flew Anubis up towards the top of the city shield.

"Than throw me off and go puke Amphibian!" Anubis shouted.

"Here goes nothing!" Falcon swung Anubis by the arm to the tip of the dome and flew down to join the others. Even though it meant nothing, Amphibian didn't seem to like getting human vomit on himself.

 _There goes nothing_ , Anubis thought. He turned himself so that his body could face the sun and put his hands in an oval position around the Eye of Ra. Heat burned through its golden holds as Anubis chanted in Ancient Egyptian.

 _Ra, morning and evening star._

 _Grant me your light from afar_

 _So that with justice I shall smite_

 _The ones who defy your might._

The sun's light seemed to widen and emit sunray versions of sonic transmissions. The little people on the ground, from the civilians hiding in their houses to the Avengers fighting Amphibian, stopped to see what was going on above in the sky. The more sunray transmissions got absorbed into the Eye of Ra, the more its orange glow increased. It began to engulf Anubis as he suddenly began to turn into a large, glowing, humanoid jackal made of pure sunlight.

" **MIGHTY SETH, SPARE ME**!" Amphibian howled in fright too late. The big glowing jackal opened his mouth and spat a large blast of light at Amphibian. Amphibian screamed as the orange blast forced his skin to pull towards gravity. As the blast pulled the black mercury closer to the ground, the 'humanoid' body of Amphibian took a vertical drop. Black Panther did a flip and caught the living, but unconscious human in his arms.

Sekmeth threw in four Wakandan vibranium cylinders onto the ground. Once they came in contact, the cylinders grew to form a vibranium enforced glass container. The black mercury landed right in the holding case and the Dora Milaje warriors wasted no time to put the locking combination to trap in the substance.

"That's done," Wanda said while Vision landed next to her... and Anubis' human form crash-landed right into a fountain.

"Amphibian had this human trapped inside him," Black Panther said as he walked over with the human in his arms. "It looks like Seth really has been using human hosts for his plagues."

Vision scanned the human. " _This is none other than the SHIELD agent that was reported missing yesterday_ ," he concluded.

"Why would Seth use a SHIELD agent as a human host for the Second Plague?" Hawkeye frowned, unhappy to remember what it was like for him, a former SHIELD agent, to be forced into the servitude of a greedy evil god.

"What _I'm_ wondering is how we started with fifteen of those Wakandan Amazons and now we only have fourteen of them." Scott's comment brought attention to the Dora Milaje, who started looking around in circles and counting their numbers until the final count confirmed Scott's point.

One of the Dora Milaje warriors had vanished.

 _Hours later, in Seth's lair_

The Dora Milaje warrior held up her spear after one of the set animal soldiers managed to push her inside the dark throneroom. Seth looked pleased, but Nile wasn't.

" **Amphibian failed, Mighty Seth. His host has been rescued and his sentience contained...** "

"An he did his mission perfectly." Seth walked down his throne towards the warrior, who didn't blink and kept her spear at him.

"Stay back... or you will be pushed back," she warned firmly.

"Only if you will go forward." Seth opened his palm and blew off yellow dust at the Dora Milaje warrior. The latter dropped her spear and used her arms to shield herself for no good use as the dust covered her in a twister.

"With you as my Third Plague, the first shield of my heart has been solidified. As my first female plague, you are the perfect parasite. Touch your enemies to serve you and bite them to invade their worst dreams," he said. "Come to me, Louse."

The dust dissolved. The Dora Milaje warrior was replaced by a six-armed slim figure covered in vibranium exoskeleton armor with hieroglyphic motifs. Her entire body was armored up, except for her pitch black eyes and fanged mouth.

" **Louse's service is to the Mighty Seth** ," Louse said in a raspy tone. " **How may I assist?** "

"Two other Rapharions are planning to bring Amphibian's black mercury substance along with his host back to the Gods And Men Association," Seth told his new minion. "Travel to America, recollect Amphibian, and return to my pyramid. And when you get the chance, see if you can find any potential host for the Fourth Plague."

" **Doesn't Master Seth wish Louse to collect Anubis for him**?" Louse respectfully asked her master.

Seth shook his head. "Not yet. You'll go after him once I create the Fourth Plague to go fetch the potential host for the Fifth Plague." He snickered and stroke Louse's cheek. "But please, don't hesitate to give Black Widow your regards."

 _At GAMA headquarters_

"You are quite lucky that Wakanda does not have a divine organization, Anubis," Tiresias spoke to Anubis in his office in an awfully too patient tone. "If it had been the case, you'd be facing trial for leaving your country and the local organization would have sued."

"I'm sorry," Anubis said, lowering his head in guilt.

"There's no need to apologize. I know that this situation may seem a bit... personal, but do understand that because of your action, you and Marion are getting a three day leave."

Anubis said nothing and bowed his head to the head of GAMA. Once he left the office, he headed down out to the Science Division building, where not only Zoë and Bonnie and other agents were studying the trapped substance of Amphibian, still agitating to escape, but a meeting room with a window showing the experimenting. The Avengers (all of them) and T'Challa were either watching the experimenting or tending to the recovering SHIELD agent while Marion was busy guiding Secretary Ross (yes, he had succeeded to get into GAMA through the Themis Protocols.

"I got to admit, for organizations that work in the shadow of governmental secret services, you people are UN legit," Ross said in an approval tone, even Tony Stark was shocked. "Unlike some I know."

"I know, Mr. Secretary," Marion said patiently. "While the organizations work do work on tightening the equal bond between immortals and humans, they also ensure that the immigrating immortals follow both the organizations' requests of blending in and the local laws. The immortals live like normal citizens and wait for the 10th year anniversary to pass their nationalism, all while staying undercover."

"And concerning the human hosting," Ross added. "Suppose the human dies, whether it was a normal cause or the immortal who did it. What would the organization do?"

"It depends on the country they are in. With GAMA, an immortal can gain independence once they finally get their American passport, but if the mortal host dies from unexpected causes before the immortal gets citizenship, unless they can find a substitute host, the immortal will temporarily work for GAMA. However, if the immortal is responsible for the host's death, permanent eviction is in order. And like we do in case of IN issues, any damage or memories caused by the immortal will be erased from society."

"I like these guys," Ross smiled. "They take into account that collateral damage must be avoided and do it all under governmental panel."

"With the price of lying to society," T'Challa said bitterly as he watched the scientists downstairs trying to electrocute the black mercury.

"OK, I know my partner went a little extreme by stowing away with Cap and using his Eye of Ra to free a guy covered in mercury, but at least he used his shielding spell to keep your city from turning into rumble and kept paranoia from overwhelming your citizens by making them forget about the event," Marion said.

"And you believe that covering citizens with false security is what's best for them?" He asked.

"How ungrateful are you people?" Marion jumped off her seat. "You complain when the Avenger crash through buildings during an alien invasion , bring down floating engines that threatened to kill millions, whine about the people who died in a city being levitated by a crazy robot, and get a hundred countries against them through bills, but you make _us_ sound like monsters? At least we don't let citizens live remembering that a snake-tailed IN tried to eat half of a Nevada town or that the guy serving you food at the local deli is actually a Cyclops wearing unique sunglasses under the pretense that he's blind! The organizations keep everyone safe, and they have done it for ages!"

"Forgive his Highness, Agent Romanson," Ross put a hand on Marion's shoulder. "He just doesn't have the same perspective as you and your fellow agents on the matter."

"And why should he?" They turned to see Anubis on the doorway. "I mean, it wouldn't be any different. Oh look, this guy is an immortal from an ancient civilization, he saved us from the monster, but he's a menace, so let's get him and keep him like a leashed animal! But who cares? He's different." Anubis looked at the window. He scowled at the black mercury agitating and turned to the meeting table. His Eye of Ra glowed and a circular image of a ten-year-old little boy in ancient Egyptian clothing and golden jewelry appeared. "Good example. This is Prince Taavi. Anybody heard of him."

"Not in the database." Natasha shook her head.

"Right! Not even the history books would remember him as the adorable, innocent little prince who had the potential of becoming a great pharaoh. Nobody today knows about him, but hey! Who cares about him? After all, he was just the pharaoh's firstborn who died during the plagues of Egypt. And guess what? I indirectly killed him by causing plague damage that killed thousands of Egyptians to save ten thousand Hebrew slaves!" The circle disappeared and Anubis dropped on a chair. "I try saving lives, but because I'm Seth's kid _and_ the god of mummification who didn't even use the Eye of Ra, I get scorned by the other Rapharions and mortals. And when I try to tone down my ways of contributing, I get treated like a jackass!"

"What's your point?" Steve asked.

"You Avengers and other heroic mortals have no problem showing off the consequences," Anubis said. "Everyone just adores the uniquely talented mortals who saved Earth, even I am a fan, but if it were only me who had to do the Battle of New York to stop Loki, I'd be shunned. Check it! The god of the death saves the day, but he's not capable of preventing death itself!" He sighed. "I joined GAMA to contribute and be respected for it, but also to not be burdened by my lousy status. Evidently that didn't change the fact that my evil biological paternal decided to twist my plagues for reasons I don't get! I don't even understand why he needs human hosts or plagues while he could just have one of his set animals drag me by the foot to Egypt and then rip off the Eye of Ra from my neck!"

"That was on his mind..."

The SHIELD agent had finally spoken, it startled everyone. "What did you say?" Tony asked.

"Being... possessed as Amphibian didn't keep me from... being aware of my surroundings..." The agent's hands were shaking on the cup of tea he was holding. "When I heard Captain America talking to Iron Man... about your plague system, I remembered... partial bits of Seth's plan. Anubis used areas in Egypt to create his shields... and landmarks as pinpoints. Seth plans to do the same for the world... but instead of landmarks, he uses kidnapped human hosts serving any form of politic or military..."

"That explains why we found Nile dragging a human with him, you being dropped out of Amphibian's black mercury, and one of the Dora Milaje disappearing," Wanda said. "Seth is using you as pinpoints."

"Nile... The First Plague... He said that Seth used an Egyptian soldier to form his humanoid appearance. As for the Wakanda soldier... While you were busy fighting Amphibian and Anubis turned ultimate on him, the light was so bright... you couldn't see one of the set beasts that Amphibian smuggled in dragging the lady with him." He took a deep breath. "By now, Seth must have already transformed her into the Third Plague. He has succeeded in creating his first shield in the plague system."

"Do you have any idea of how he decides on his hosts?" Ross asked.

"For the first shield, it involved simple soldiers... But for the next two shields, he plans to go above. Get political or military leaders... or worse..."

"What's worse?" Anubis asked.

"He's considering kidnapping agents from other divine organizations."

"God," Marion said. "With Egypt, the United States, and Wakanda already attacked by Seth, two more attacked countries would lead to a gathering of all the divine immigration organizations and the UN. Everything that we did in secrecy would be exposed."

"Spreading paranoia and putting countries on each other's necks," Rhodey said silently.

"But why does he seek to spread the plagues?" Anubis said. "That's the part I don't get. If he the Eye of Ra right now, he could kill any soul he wanted and take over the world! It would faster to spread the apocalypse that way than to create the plagues!

" _When I confronted your plagued self, he said something about 'the greedy, unworthy ones cleansed out, leaving birth to a younger civilization molded to understand and appreciate the rightful rule of one who possesses the Soul Stone,'_ " Vision said.

"I heard that, but I don't think 'who possesses the Soul Stone' was referring to Seth in particular," the agent said. "I didn't see it, but right after Amphibian was created, my body was put to sleep to gain energy before my first strike. But since Amphibian could hear anything the frogs of the pyramid heard, I could also hear through them. I heard something that sounded like Seth... talking to someone. I don't know the entire context of their discussion, but whoever Seth was talking to, he sounded... worried."

"A being worse than my creator?" Anubis rolled his eyes. "I must be dreaming."

"I heard things like 'a fair trade', 'removing any potential threat', and something about 'the promise of a new kingdom with the rightful family house on the throne, only after my body gets repaired by the Eye of Ra and Nephtys gets resurrected'."

"Nephtys?" Thor asked.

"You must have misheard," Anubis shook his head. "Seth murdered Nephtys after she purposely left him hanging so that he couldn't kill me."

"I did not mishear." The agent shook his head. "Besides, right before Seth took notice of your departure to Wakanda, Nile and I noticed something that was new to his throneroom. A coffin with carvings of a funeral heading towards a house with an upside down dome..."

"Nephtys' casket." Anubis gasped. He got off his chair and started pacing frantically. "This can't be! Seth tried to steal the Eye, he killed Osiris, he murdered my unborn siblings, and he killed Nephtys! Why, after so many eras, does he decide to bring back his wife?"

"He doesn't just want his wife back." The agent pointed at Anubis. "He wants _you_ back as well."

"He would have killed me!" Anubis shouted. Marion grabbed him by the shoulders to calm him down.

"So the man's a madman," Ross said, "who is under the delusion that he can get his family back."

"OK, I need to make sure I understand things well," Tony said. "The guy wants the Eye of Ra to not only gain power, but because he wants to reunite with the chick he killed himself and get back the kid he never wanted in the first place." He looked at the agent. "And what about the person Seth was talking to?"

"I guess that overall, when you put the pieces together," the agent looked at Mr. Stark, "Seth must have made a pact. He can use the Eye to get his family back and use the plagues to create his own new kingdom... but in exchange use it to eliminate any potential threat for his dealer and _then_ give the Soul Stone to the dealer once this is all over."

A sound of breaking glass was heard. Everyone saw that Thor, out of shock, clenched his glass full of water so hard, it shattered.

"Thor?" Cap asked.

"Seth made a deal to trade an object wielding an Infinity Stone to someone who'd grant him power... and my brother Loki was promised an army to conquer Earth in exchange of delivering the Tesseract, the thing that holds the Space Stone, to his dealer, who also gave him a scepter holding the Mind Stone." Thor tended to his bleeding scratches. "It can't be a coincidence. Whoever traded with Loki must have with Seth as well."

"Any idea on who are man is?" Ross asked quietly.

"No, but I know who does." Thor made his way out of the meeting room. "I need to get back to my spaceship."

"While you're at it, can you ask Dr. Banner to join me and Marion? Tiresias put us on a three-day leave," Anubis said.

"Excellent idea. Honestly, I think he could take a break from being with my people for a bit..."

"Oh, no, it's not for a vacation. In case Seth decides to send in his minions, we'll need the Hulk."

"The Hulk... in a populated area?" Ross scowled.

"It's only a town with a maximum population of fifty," Anubis said. "Completely in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest. He can't harm anyone there, but more importantly, he can harm Seth's threats."

"You _really_ must be in need of a vacation to ask for the big guy," Marion rolled her eyes.

"Hey! The guy could swing Loki and Thor and hammer them to the ground! If he can smash those puny gods, we're good!" Anubis grinned.

 _Ten minutes later_

Zoë cautiously poked the black mercury through the robotic arm manipulations. The substances reacted viciously and the reactions got recorded into the computer.

"Fascinating," Zoë said. "Bonnie, did you get that?"

"I did." Bonnie had turned into her human appearance to better accommodate with the required lab coat and safety goggles protocol. "At every area we hit with, it reacts just like the electronic nerval pulse in a human brain matrix. It's like Amphibian is not just a human-possessing plague made of black mercury, but an actual intelligence."

"Lord spare us if Seth becomes the next Tony Stark," Zoë shook her head. She adjusted the commands and increased the clean energy panels, brightening the container. The more she increased the energy, the more the black mercury appeared to shrink into a tiny speck desperately hanging for dear life on a nail-sized orange fragment. "Bonnie, look at that! It's a fragment of the Soul Stone!"

"Are you sure?" Bonnie turned away from the computer and had a better look. "It is! But... wasn't the Soul Stone, which is in the Eye of Ra, taken away from Seth after he tried stealing it?"

"Perhaps he managed to keep some fragments. Let's have a look. Keep increasing the clean energy while I grab the stone."

Bonnie took Zoë's place and manipulated the controls. The black mercury was terribly weakening, so it could do nothing much when Zoë used two pairs of metal tweezers, one to pick and flick away the mercury and the other to pick the Soul Stone fragment. Once it was picked, Zoë quickly locked up the vibranium container and used one of the GAMA platinum containers to cautiously place the fragment. Bonnie lowered the clean energy panel signatures and looked cautiously at the container. She tried tapping on the screen. The speck of mercury didn't move, but it also looked... silvery.

"I must be hallucinating." Bonnie rubbed her eyes and checked again. "Zoë, the black mercury just turned into normal mercury."

"Let's get this back to Anubis then." Zoë made a quick call on her phone as she and Bonnie exited the lab to go upstairs. "Parrish, can you take care of the mercury waste in Lab 15?"

" _Roger that_."

The girls stepped inside the meeting room. "Wait, where's Anubis?" Bonnie asked.

"Got punished by a three-day leave with Marion," Cap said. "Ross escorted them to Union Station. Thor and Natasha left with them and the SHIELD agent got sent back to Fury."

"Thor and Romanoff left with them? Is there a god and redheads gathering?"

Tony snorted at the joke.

"Thor went to question his brother Loki on something while Ms. Romanoff left to join Anubis and Agent Romanson," T'Challa said. "Anubis requested Dr. Banner to come along, which explains why Ms. Romanoff decided to go."

"Figures. After World War Warrior, Gamma Shrek is Anubis' second favorite Avenger," Bonnie shrugged.

"World War Warrior?" Cap arched an eyebrow at the nickname. "Gamma Shrek?"

"Anubis left? Dang it!" Zoë held up her container holding the fragment. "I have to return this to him. We found this Soul Stone fragment in the black mercury. The moment we separated them, the black mercury turned down to normal mercury."

" _Are you concluding that Seth might be using whatever he has left of the Soul Stone to bring his plagues to life_?" Vision took a good look at the fragment, which did a minor glowing signal at his forehead.

"It does fit," Cap remarked. "After all, Ultron used the Mind Stone to bring you to life."

"And Plagues 2.0 were designed to plague the Avengers." Bonnie pulled out a file from her pockets and filed her nails. "Probably just another messing strategy. 'Oh, the Mind Stone created you? Well guess what, dumbass, the Soul Stone created me!'"

"Any chance that we can send this off to Anubis?" Tony briefly took the container in his hands.

"Nope. Aside from the GAMA HQ or the Mirror Dimension, agents never go to the other's actual housing," Zoë shook her head.

"You're joking."

"We can send work emails or Skype, but aside from that, agents do not share mailing addresses or try to find them. GAMA even uses satellites to camouflage phone frequencies, personal records, or anything that could make an agent found by anybody who isn't well-intended."

"Gee, where we're you guys when Project Insight was being thrown by HYDRA?" Sam asked sarcastically.

"I guess we'll have to wait until Monday night or Tuesday morning to return the fragment to Anubis," Zoë shrugged and took the container back from Tony. "I'll go ahead and put it in the mineral vault."

"No wait!" Bonnie grabbed Zoë by the arm. "What if Seth decides to send one of his minions to steal the fragment so that he can remake Amphibian?"

"You're right, I forgot about that."

"Normally I'd suggest hiding it within the Avengers Compound or in SHIELD, but with Seth being unpredictable..." Rhodey shook his head.

"Maybe we could have Strange hide the fragment in Kamar-Taj," Bonnie offered. "After all, they succeeded of keeping the Time Stone in the Eye of Agamotto... Oh, wait, the lab incident."

" _Never again_." Zoë shook her head.

"Cross off the quantum realm," Scott said.

"No way it's going with my kids," Hawkeye said.

"I might know an abandoned place in New Jersey," Cap offered. "It's covered in rumble ever since that time when Natasha and I almost killed by a SHIELD missile there."

"Nobody lives there?" Bonnie asked.

"None."

"Great, we'll just bury the thing there! I bet Seth will never find it there." Bonnie reached out for the container but Zoë kept the container away from her.

"Out of the question! There's no way that I'm hiding this in an old HYDRA possessed SHIELD compound!" She snapped.

"You have a better idea?" Bonnie said.

"How about _anything_ but HYDRA?"

"What? Shrink it and have Hulk swallow it?"

"OK, I'm going to go ahead and suggest that we bring it to the Avengers compound..." Tony stepped in.

"BACK OFF, STARK!" Zoë shouted. She shouted so loudly, Tony actually fell back on his butt.

"Zoë, you're having another PTSD crisis. Calm down," Bonnie said calmly.

" _For what_?" Zoë scoffed. "Stark did nothing and he was there when HYDRA murdered my grandfather!"

"Zoë, think of your heart..." Bonnie warned.

"He frolicked around with his wife in his fancy little car in New York and he did _nothing_ when they kidnapped me and my parents to Siberia!" Zoë's hands were clutching the container and the gem in it glowed.

"Her emotions are being increased by the Soul Stone fragment!" T'Challa realized.

"Dr. Hazelfields, please put down the container," Tony said, slowly putting on his suit of armor.

"Why? Because you're going to apologize for not being there to protect my parents?" Zoë scoffed. "At least James didn't have trouble sacrificing himself to let me run off after HYDRA ordered him to do the worst..." She suddenly blinked. Her hands dropped the container and Tony quickly caught it before it could break. "James..."

Cap walked towards her and grabbed her arm, bringing up the sleeve and revealing her tattoo. "Thor and Banner weren't lying when they said that Bonnie told them you were a HYDRA prisoner."

"Bonnie!" Zoë exclaimed.

"What? Thor and Banner had to be warned when they noticed your tattoo!" The eastern banshee protested.

"That tattoo is the exact style of the one HYDRA gave to its war prisoners, with the date of the incarceration," Cap said, showing the mark to the others.

"555," Falcon read the number. He rolled his eyes at Zoë. "C'mon! You were captured in _May 1955_? Just how old are you?"

"That's not a question to ask a woman!" Zoë exclaimed.

"Would you prefer that Vision or I find out?" Wanda offered. Zoë glared at the two of them, but when she saw everyone expecting an answer, she groaned.

"Fine! I was actually born in 1939. My family and I used to live in Germany, but when HYDRA became interested in my grandfather, we fled to the US. My grandfather served as a scientist in the army. He used to tell and teach all of his works to my dad, who hoped to teach it to me later on when I got older. But after a HYDRA agent assassinated my grandfather and failed to bring the last sample of one his creations, my parents and I moved further west and changed our last names with my mom's maiden name, Hazelfields."

"So what _is_ your last name?" Cap asked.

"You of all the people would be dumb enough to not know," Zoë said.

Cap froze on the spot. "It can't be..."

"What?" T'Challa asked, but Cap ignored him.

"You... Dr. Erskine once told me he had a granddaughter." Steve looked at Zoë. " _You_ 're his granddaughter."

Zoë nodded. "My original name was Zoë Gretchen Erskine, but once we fled, I changed to Zoë Hazelfields."

"So you're grandpa is the guy who made the super-soldier serum that created Steve," Wanda said. "No wonder HYDRA kidnapped you."

"They were correct when they assumed that the super-soldier formula recipe was passed on in the family, so they captured us and held us in this Siberian compound. They first tried to play nice and give my dad the Arnim Zola treatment while my mother and I were kept under house arrest in Moscow. For a year, they didn't get through them, so they then placed us in a cell in the compound. They threatened to torture us or use us for experiments, but my dad was a World War I veteran, so he was stoic enough to not fall for their blackmail. A year later, they started beating him and putting my mother and I in separate cells. And... when the fourth year hit, they decided to bring James."

"And the Winter Soldier killed your parents," Tony concluded. "Trust me, I know what it's like to hate a guy who murdered your folks, but how did you escape his shooting or his metal arm?"

"That's the thing, Stark," Zoë looked up with nostalgic eyes. "After HYDRA's last blackmailing attempt failed on my dad, they had James twist the neck on both my dad and my mom right in front me/ Since I was the last Erskine left and had enough exposure to their horrors, they threatened to have James murder me if I didn't make the formula for them. I spit at them and told them that I'd rather go to Hell than work for them, so they might as well kill me to save time."

"And Bucky didn't succeed in killing you," Cap guessed.

"Well..." Zoë gave an unhappy sighed. "Right after James stretched his arm and prepared to break my neck, his supervisor decided to give him a last-minute order. 'Before you spill her blood, give her a lesson of what the consequences are for a girl to defy HYDRA', he had said. 'Rape her.'"

Everyone gasped. Wanda covered her mouth and dropped on her knees in horror, even worse than back in Lagos. T'Challa shook his head in displeasure, and Tony looked like he could explode.

"You're lying, Zoë," Steve said angrily. "I've known Bucky, he's not the kind to assault a woman."

"But he _didn't_ , Cap." Everyone now looked in shock at Zoë. "He had received direct orders, but while he'd kill anyone on the spot if he was told to, he couldn't aggress someone like his supervisor ordered him of such immoral violence. He ended up grabbing his superior and nearly crushed his skull. When James heard stomping footsteps approaching, he screamed at me to get the hell out of here."

Cap sighed in relief. "Thank God."

"Thank God that he didn't obey or that he saved her?" Hawkeye asked.

"Both."

"God didn't thank him enough." Zoë shook her head. "Back when I was placed in solitary confinement, I heard HYDRA scientists discussing a possible backup plan in case their Winter Soldier ever dared defying their orders. My escape only confirmed their theories."

"Boom, the trigger words that Zemo used to control Bucky back in Berlin?" Falcon guessed.

"Yep." Zoë grabbed a chair and sat down. "So as you can see, with possible HYDRA agents still on the loose, I don't want to risk a Soul Stone fragment getting in their hands. I'm already hoping that with GAMA camouflaging my existence from national dossiers and security cameras, HYDRA has given up on its hope that I'd still live."

"It's 2018, Zoë," Bonnie said. "They probably assume that you're in your eighties by now and that you're probably passing off in a senior condo."

"Speaking of age, how did you manage to retain your... health?" Tony avoided directly asking for Zoë's age.

"When I returned to the US, I grabbed the notes that my dad buried in our garden, ran away to a secure location, and managed to replicate one test tube full of the Erskine super-soldier serum," Zoë said. "The formula didn't have the same effects because of it being consumed by a human. Instead of bulking, I stopped aging. At least my cells doubled my systems functioning, enhancing the immune and nerve ones the most."

"And the formula you drank was the only one you fabricated?" Tony asked randomly. Zoë gave him a murderous glare and slapped him.

"Just creating the serum, even for the good of mankind, cost me my family and for governments to fight each other's throats to duplicate it!" Zoë shouted. "Once I consumed the serum, I burned the papers. _Never_ again will the world get to industrialize factories just to make super-soldier armies. As far as I'm concerned, I'm the last Dr. Erskine and the formula will die with me!"


	8. Erskine vs Louse Factor

Chapter 8: Erskine vs Louse Factor

Anubis lifted himself up from the pile of laundry that he was folding in the living room of Marion's cottage. For some reason, ever since he began to live within humans, he had grown an adoring fascination for the way clean clothes smelled whenever they came out all warm from the dryer. He even turned into a jackal a few times to bury himself into the pool of detergent perfume.

Of course, it did have a few problems.

"Anubis, how many times do I have to tell you? Stop leaving your dog fur in the laundry!" Marion scolded a few minutes later when he got caught transforming over the laundry basket. Banner and Natasha, who were drinking decaf coffee while keeping an eye out on the windows, held back some giggling.

"I can't help it! The detergent is so tantalizing!"

"My god, are you honestly..." Marion took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"I'm going in the barn." Anubis turned into a jackal and made his way to the door, where he pushed himself through a dog door.

Marion frowned. "Since when do I have a dog door?"

"Since I immigrated!" Anubis shouted as he went out. "Evidently the bad dog needs a time out!"

"I never said that!" Marion opened the window and shouted back. A distant neighing came from the barn.

"Moonlight disagrees! Apparently the bad dog makes better company to animals than to people!"

Marion grumbled and stormed to the fridge. "You guys are darn lucky," she told Natasha and Banner while she scavenged until she found a container of orange juice.

"No, I've seen worse." Banner said sarcastically as he sat down on the table. He gave a small glance at Natasha. She had been so happy to see him the moment they reunited on the train to Mediansburg, it felt like old times. Well, times without the screaming.

Marion sighed and poured herself a cup. "I meant _you_ guys are lucky," she said, sitting down and facing Banner. "You guys managed to make the connection between monster and human work... I can't even give Anubis a hint that he can perceive."

"Wait." Natasha looked back at the direction Anubis left off and faced Marion. "You _like_ Anubis? Beyond the friend zone, I mean."

"Ooh, bad idea, kid. _Very_ bad." Banner shook his head in disapproval. "I don't know if you've read any mythology back in school, but last time I checked, mortal and god romances _never_ work out. Even Thor couldn't keep his relationship with Jane Foster!"

"At least they got shots!" Marion complained. "Anubis either doesn't bother making a move or he won't let me give him a hint!" She sighed and dropped her arms on the table. "He wasn't kidding when he said that he was no ravisher, but at the same time I don't know if I can keep up remaining in the friend zone. I'm not even sure if I can keep up remaining in GAMA."

"You joined only because of him," Banner guessed. "Why?"

Marion tapped the glass on her orange juice cup. "Two days after I welcomed Anubis in my house, I had two agents knocking on my door. Both were from the Registration Division of GAMA. They had us for a conversation at this very table. We then learn that because I welcomed Anubis willingly, we'd have to be registered for co-habitation until Anubis spends ten-years-with me and manages to get his citizenship, thus labeling him independent. It was either that or getting my memory erased and they'd find another host for Anubis."

"And you chose to stick around with him."

"You've seen how he is. He's like a puppy suffering domestic abuse that got out of the pound. He has his sweet moments, but he's an insufferable idiot seeking to please others because 'everything's his fault'... or so he was led to believe. But anyway, I knew Anubis wouldn't make it if he got placed with another mortal. At least _I_ had gotten my first hands-on experience during my first days with him.

"Then, after we got registered, we were given options. Now that we were a duo, we could either blend in among the civilians or aid the community by joining GAMA. And Anubis was so desperate to prove that he wasn't a monster misjudged by the other gods with no rights to chances and wanted to contribute to the community, he instantly jumped to the call. And since I didn't want to give up on my friend... I agreed."

"That's a lot of sacrifice for a friend that you only met for a few days." Natasha brought her empty cup of coffee to the sink and started cleaning it.

"I mean the first six months were great." Marion gave a pleasant shrug. "We got to learn about GAMA, I met other human hosts and Anubis befriended many of the immigrated immortals who didn't judge him on the spot, whenever we clocked out, we could either stay in DC or go back to Mediansburg, and every trip to catch an elusive IN was a free trip to any place in the US. Everyday was something knew." She smirked and shook her head. "But then for some reason, during the last three months, he started distancing himself. I don't know if it was because of Seth's threat or because I was giving off indirect hints that I wanted more in the relationship than just working for GAMA."

"Or maybe reason C is that he wants to avoid demigod offspring." Banner looked at his own cup in disappointment when he saw how empty it was. "Now that I think about it, if immortals immigrate all over the world and humans keep them hidden, what happens to demigods?"

"What about them?" Marion asked.

"Demigods like... Hercules, Perseus, Gilgamesh or anybody..." Banner gave out examples. "What happens to demigods who move around either because they live longer or because there are still gods out there crazy enough to reproduce through mortals?"

Marion slouched on her chair. "You know, that's a good question. In the divine immigration organizations, they're called 'Genetic Hybrids' or GHs for short, because immortals aren't necessarily gods. Honestly, when it comes to hired immortals, you find only one god and at least a hundred classified under fantastical beasts and mythical creatures that can live a thousand years per organizations, so if any of them decide to reproduce with a mortal, the organizations will only take the demigod into account depending on the threat level or the age issue."

"Age issue?" Natasha put her mug back in the cabinet.

"Apparently, when a demigod is half mortal and half immortal, they live half the lifespan of an immortal added to the doubled lifespan of a mortal," Marion explained. "If it was just any immortal, it would be half of those 1000 years added to the 200 human years, and the demigod lives for 700 years max. It's more complicated with gods because they have longer different lifespan probabilities, but they're all usually around 5000 years. Any demigod born of a god could live to be 2700 years old... They stop aging at one point in their lives, but to avoid attracting public suspicion, the local organizations either make them long-term agents or leave the country."

"Can the demigods be killed?"

"They can die from any way that would kill a mortal, but since they are half god, it would have to be a high-leveled human incident. A normal car crash would have to be replaced by a massive car crash in a nuclear implantation. A disease would have to be highly lethal with no potential cure. A bullet would have to be made of dangerous substance." Marion hesitated as she figured to find the right words. "You know, it's like how only the high-leveled stuff will really get through Mr. Banner's... green Mr. Hyde persona."

A beeping sound came from her jeans pocket. Marion reached in and pulled out a thin Iphone with the GAMA logo. She placed it on the table and tapped on it. ' _You have one new notification on the GAMA chat room_ ,' the automated voice said, similar to what the automated speakers said while leaving messages.

"GAMA chat room?" Banner asked.

"Like a personal agent Facebook." The teenager continued tapping on the screen, then rubbing on it to display holographic projections of the latest hotness in whatever the agents talked about, but what really got the most attention from Marion's blue eyes was the post shouting _**Agent Hazelfields Has Cracked!**_

 _Minutes later, at the barn_

Moonlight neighed pleasantly as Anubis brushed the horse with a sponge soaking in soap. It gave him some relaxing pleasure to clean up the mare. Back in the Rapharion city, if he wasn't spending time with Isis or snooping around with his jackal nose, he'd mostly spend time in the stables and tending to the horses.

' _Why don't you try riding one of them?_ ' Isis asked him that one time she came to the royal stables and found Anubis cleaning one of the foals. ' _It's quite exhilarating.'_

 _'Horus is better off riding horses than I am.'_ Anubis liked to make the remark that his cousin's name was no different than the word 'horse', but he dared not mention it to others. Last time he did, Horus sharpened his talons at him.

 _'Your mother used to love riding them.'_ Isis had sat down on one of the benches near the saddles. ' _She and I used to race in the Sahara Desert when we were children. Father Geb would throw a bit whenever our clothes got messed up after a few encounters with sand dunes...'_

 _'What are you trying to get at?'_ Anubis had finally lost it and snapped. ' _If this is one of your tricks to entice me to strength the foster sibling bond between Horus and me, it will never happen! I could try as much as I want, they won't let me!'_

In the current day, Anubis clenched on the sponge. The Eye of Ra reacted with his negative emotion, reducing the sponge to cinders. Moonlight panicked at a possible burning. Anubis calmed down when he saw the panicked mare.

"Moonlight, I'm sorry." Anubis stroked the mare and let his fingers trail down her neck, calming her. He knew the animal still remembered the burning entrance he made in the barn when he first came, but because of his old habits with horses, she grew attached to him, especially when it came to bath time. "You know, you're lucky," the young god continued and went to fetch a towel to dry up Moonlight, "you've got no reasons to feel like a monster. Unlike me."

"Welcome to the club."

This time, Anubis did not jump in startle. He detected the presence of a soul by the barn entrance. All he had to do was look up and confirm that Natasha Romanoff was entering the barn.

"Marion got something on the GAMA chat room..." Natasha began.

"Zoë cracked from Avengers pressure and revealed that she was an Erskine," Anubis said. He scrubbed behind Moonlight's ears, making the mare wag her tail.

"How'd you know?"

"Soul Stone in the Eye of Ra, remember?" Anubis shrugged. "When it comes to mortal soul detecting and emotion sensing, I'm a pro. Especially when the mortal in question was holding a fragment of the Soul Stone in a container."

"I called Steve to confirm." Natasha gently approached Moonlight and caressed it under the chin. "He's still somewhat... surprised, but he and T'Challa managed to get into a begging deal with Erskine...Hazelfields..."

"It's Zoë. What did they ask?"

"That she tried to see if whether or not she could use her own science to free Bucky from his HYDRA controlling condition." Natasha pulled out a bag of baby carrots and gave a handful for Moonlight to chew on. "She just succeeded in removing the Soul Stone fragment that gave Amphibian life while Wakandan technology wasn't even capable to cure the Winter Soldier out of Bucky..."

"Waste of time." Anubis hung the towel on a rack and walked Moonlight back to her pen.

"You don't think she can do it?"

"No, Zoë's an expert in science and her experiences with GAMA have helped combining science and paranormal theories. She can deliver and remove the spell that HYDRA put on Barnes to make him their Winter Soldier." He pushed the Moonlight's pen door and locked it tight.

"So why do you think it's a waste of time?" Natasha asked.

Anubis rested his back on the wall and crossed his arms. "Try living as long as me and you will see that no matter how much any side tries, you cannot destroy one half to expand the other. You can try _oppressing_ it and hide it like a secret it in you, but it will never go away." He walked a few steps towards Natasha. "We've all got a dark side and a light side. Problem is, whenever you try eliminating one side, especially the dark one, it will always come back with something stronger and far more dangerous. Life is one giant strange case of Jekyll and Hyde."

He then shrugged. "Zoë can triumph and remove the brainwashing process from Barnes, but what would that change? I mean, sure, he'll come back to the good guys and fight for good, but those seven decades as the Winter Soldier have turned him cold and nothing like the old Bucky. He might returning as good guy Bucky, but he'll still have the Winter Soldier in him. The only thing Zoë's going to end up with is a friendly assassin following her around."

Natasha looked at him. "Is that something you were taught or you actually believe it?"  
"I'm the offspring of Seth," Anubis said. "No matter how much I push my efforts to prove my loyalty and dedications to the just side of the Mat Feather, I still get reminded that I was born out of darkness." He chuckled. "Besides, Rapharions were mostly known for being rather gory in details and entrails stuffed in canopy jars. Which I mostly ate."

Natasha put a hand on her abdomen and turned her back to the god. There were some things that were best forgotten.

An uncorking sound got her attention. Her eyes saw Anubis with a small glass flask in his hands. He bent down and picked up a strand of hay. The Eye of Ra spread glowing orange lights that went down Anubis' arm like solar veins until it hit the hay, turning into a loose silver hair strand. The god then used his nails to drop the silver hair into the glass flask, transforming it into iridescent liquid. As his arm stopped glowing, a copper cap shaped like a jackal's head appeared, corking the flask shut.

"Many Rapharions have the power of fertility," Anubis said. "Normally I couldn't, but since I'm the guardian of the Eye of Ra..." He held up the flask to Natasha, who looked at it and actually began to tremble. "One sip, Natasha, and you can finally have children."

Natasha stared at the flask. The iridescent fluid moved in small waves and bubbles popped to make giggling baby noises. "Why would you give me a fertility potion?"

"Because you deserve it," he said.

"And you? You don't think you have a better shot a deserving a loving family more than I do?"

His hold on the flask tightened, crushing the fragile material until the potion and the glass stained the hay-covered earth of the barn. Green grass began to grow in the stain's area.

"Marion told you about her crush on me," he said coldly.

"You know about it?" Natasha was shocked.

"I'm a god. I'm not oblivious to mortals getting a heart attack when they see a god of the opposite gender." Anubis started walking towards the exit. "At least I'm not like the other male gods, catching mortal females like a child with butterflies and a net and leaving them behind once they leave seeds that germinate into legacies." He morphed into a jackal. "Marion deserves better."

He ran off. Natasha followed him and stopped by the doorway. In the distance, he ran off on the green field and tackled down a wild rabbit.

 _This god really has issues_ , she thought.

 _Meanwhile, in the Wakandan Embassy of Manhattan_

Wakandan scientists adjusted the wiring, ensuring that the cryo-tech would keep Bucky hibernating in his pod. It was fortunate that they had no trouble bringing in the pod overseas, and twice the luck that this time, they didn't call Thaddeus Ross but Everett K. Ross. God knew if they were related, but at least Everett was better at giving second chances than Thaddeus.

Zoë had stopped by Greenwich before coming to the embassy, and an hour later, she was introducing Dr. Strange to Captain America and the Black Panther in the embassy's advanced operating theater.

"You think you can get whatever HYDRA put him?" Cap asked the Sorcerer Supreme after they were done shaking hands.

"Well I was capable of reviving a man by extracting a bullet from his skull before my incident." Dr. Strange held up his hands. "But I have been practicing on astral projections of brain circuits and located sensitive neurons through the Mystic Arts, so I'm primarily here to help Dr. Hazelfields locate the most infected nerves that need the most healing."

"I'll take that as a yes," T'Challa assumed.

"More of a 'maybe'." Dr. Strange floated down to the platform. He walked to Zoë, who was taking notes while examining Barnes unconscious in the pod. "Is he ready?"

"I'm assuming he is," Zoë said. "You think you can project his brain from here."

"I'd have to go astral to get inside him, but we might have to turn off the cryokinesis. The cold could get in the way of my astral body's energy."

"He might wake up."

"Sedate him."

The Wakandan scientists turned off the pod's cold temperatures and pulled out Barnes. He looked like he was a fallen angel resting in peace in his white patient robes and his unusually calm expression. During his hibernation time in Wakanda, as repentance, T'Challa had granted him a new metallic arm made of pure Vibranium. Zoë looked like she was hesitating, but she shook her head and instantly injected a tranquilizer serum on Barnes' right arm. "Ready when you are, Strange."

"Ok. And by the way, try not freaking out."

Before Zoë could ask, Strange's body collapsed on the floor. T'Challa and Cap got up in concern, wondering if the man was alright until Zoë screamed at the sight of a ghostly Stephen Strange appearing out of nowhere. " _I thought I told you to not freak out_ ," he said quietly.

"I... What... Just look in his brain!" Zoë shook her head.

Stephen Strange rolled his eyes and his astral projection disappeared. Things became awfully quiet in the operating theater until Dr. Strange's body lifted back up and his hands summoned a glowing projection of Bucky's nerval system. "HYDRA placed nine nanotech microchips on his nerve systems from the brain to the robotic arm. They'll only activate the moment the right words are used."

"So if we remove the microchips, we're solid gold." Zoë snapped her fingers at Bonnie. "You still got the PINS?"

"Always got five with me and a bow full of replacement extraction needles!" Bonnie pulled out a box of needles in her right hand while her left hand held out five red syringes. Cap and T'Challa actually freaked out when they saw the syringes as big as their fists.

"How are _those_ pins?" T'Challa exclaimed while Bonnie came the deadly appearing tools to Zoë and one of the Wakandan scientists in the background fainted.

"PINS, as in Parasitical Immortal Nonconformist Syringes," Zoë explained as she twisted a clean needle onto the PINS she was holding. "We normally use it when we have to deal with INs possessing mortals."

"Excuse me?" Cap asked.

"There were past issues where a minority immigrated immortals were dependent-based or microscopic, they actually need physical hosts to survive off from. It then became a problem when those immortals began to host themselves in their human hosts, and when draining them caused the hosts to mentally spoil, GAMA had to come up with PINS to extract the immortals."

"You mean they could literally possess humans if they wanted to?"

"Only out of necessity." Bonnie shrugged and went to the sink to wash her hands. "At first, nobody noticed because the parasitical immortals didn't make themselves so obvious, but then GAMA brought the PINS to action when some immortal descendants of Arachne, who were so desperate to survive, sucked so much blood out of their hosts and... well... Let's just say we don't need another post-Civil War Ku Klux Klan."

"But if the PINS can easily extract immortals without damaging the host's body, I should be able to use it to extract those microchips out of James without damaging his skin." Zoë tensed a bit. She shook her head and walked over to the unconscious Barnes. She took a deep breath and put her spare hand on his collarbone. "Alright. Let's do it. Strange, show me where you spotted the microchips."

They started with the extraction process. As Dr. Strange pointed the areas of the located microchips and Zoë extracted them one by one, they were unaware of the presence of vibranium lice emerging from the walls and discreetly sneaking on the backs of the Wakandan scientists. As more microchips got pulled out, none of the scientists had time to react to the bites and saw their world turning dark.

"I can't believe it..." Cap smiled eagerly at the thought of Bucky being close to freed from the HYDRA manipulation. "Zoë, your grandfather would be amazed."

Zoë smiled. "Nothing big, really."

"Alright, we have one more left." Dr. Strange cautiously put his finger under Bucky's head. "He's got one more left. The last chip is right on the area where his skull meets his spine..."

Bonnie perked her head up. The scientists were now turning clockwise until they faced her and the other white professionals like robots. "Guys, I don't wanna sound racist, but we got a problem with the Third Country group here..."  
Cap and T'Challa jumped off the bleachers and joined the good guys. Zoë and Dr. Strange had paused to see what was happening.

"Is something the matter?" T'Challa cautiously asked the scientists.

" **Move**. **Or you will be moved.** " The scientists all spoke, their mouths all using the same raspy feminine voice.

"I know that tone from any of the Dora Milaje warriors." The king instantly changed into his Black Panther uniform. "The Third Plague, is it?"

" **Actually, the Mighty Seth preferred to name Louse, but I am the Third Plague** ," the voice repeated.

"Why can't we see it... or her?" Bonnie asked.

"Because the actual Third Plague isn't here," Dr. Strange said as he put his hands on his temples. "I'm sensing... organic life forms on the scientists... but they're made of vibranium..."

" **Yes, and don't they make the perfect obedient slaves?** " The scientists' heads nodded while Louse's voice echoed in the operating theater. " **Currently, I am not** _ **here,**_ **but somewhere else, so I'll make it simple. Erskine, give me the Soul Stone fragment.** "

"How on earth did you know I have it?" Zoë gasped.

" **The Mighty Seth can sense his own property** ," Louse said. " **So unless you hand it over quickly, he'll be having a Fourth Plague host."**

"Not today!" Cap threw his shield at the first Wakandan puppet facing him.

" **Attack!** "

The scientists charged. T'Challa punched and kicked two in the stomach. Dr. Strange used portal openings to make some fall into loops that made it look like they were falling from the ceiling just to go through a hole on the floor and the cycle resumed. Bonnie turned into her banshee form and screamed at the faces of the brainwashed scientists, making them crumble on their knees as they covered their ears.

"GAH!" Zoë screamed. Hundreds of vibranium lice appeared out of nowhere and turned into Louse the Third Plague. The beast used four of her arms to pin Zoë on the wall by the arms and legs. Meanwhile, Louse's spare mid-arms searched Zoë's pockets until she pulled out the container holding the Soul Stone fragment.

" **I just recovered everything I needed for the Mighty Seth. All I have left now is to torment the Black Widow... then again, I could just take you right away to Seth and deal with the Russian one later. I'm sure the Mighty Seth would let me torment your worst dreams until you use your formula to his services...** "

Louse was so busy with Zoë, she didn't see the metal arm aiming at her until she felt it break through her armor and turn into vibranium lice that scurried off. Zoë lost her balance, but something caught and lifted her. She looked up and blushed. "Uh... hi..." She stammered.

James Buchanan Barnes was awake and holding her.

"Must I always save you?" He asked.

"Oh, ha, ha." Zoë rolled her eyes.

The knocked down scientists began to reassemble.

"I got an idea," Cap said. "T'Challa, do you have any disposable motorcycles?"

"Just one in the embassy's underground parking lot. Usually it's for the guards."

"Bucky will have to borrow it. I know an area where we can lure Louse's minions away from your embassy."

"The Mirror Dimension?" Stephen Strange asked.

"Nope. Queens."


	9. Chase Us Down To Queens

Chapter 9: Chase Us Down To Queens

The tires screeched and the bike charged up its fuel. Barnes instantly hit the pedals and drove himself and Zoë out of the Wakandan embassy and towards the fastest route leading to Queens.

"Why do I have to be the plague bait?" The GAMA agent whined.

"Beats me. I was unconscious when the details were out," Barnes shrugged.

"Right, I forgot!" Zoë said sarcastically. "You were busy being a human Popsicle!"

Barnes ignored that last comment and hit the power on his bike. He had the bike dodge the other cars as they began to cross the heart of the Robert F Kennedy Bridge. "If we take the Grand Central Parkway, we should make it to Queens."

"What's in Queens anyway?" Zoë asked.

"Beats me."

"Great! So I suppose we're just supposed to scream 'We made it to Queens' when we get there?"

A scream got their attention. Barnes hit the brake on the bike. Drivers were either driving to land as fast as possible or they ditched their cars to run as fast as they could away from the bridge. The East River was turning red in the horizon and slithered its red waves towards the bridge.

"Great, it's Nile again." Zoë grumbled in exasperation when Nile the First Plague emerged and surrounded both sides of the bridge in two copies of himself until they towered upon them. Oh, and did anyone fail to mention that thanks to the oil spill in 2017, he was _three_ times bigger than he was back in Dupont Circle while confronting Anubis, Marion, and Captain America?

And if that didn't help, thousands of vibranium lice marched up the bridge until they formed Louse.

"Two against two, should be fair." Barnes got off the bike and pulled out the gun he had brought with him from the embassy.

" **Nile happens to have the black mercury that Louse recollected from the Avengers,** " both Nile copies said. " **It would be easier if Erskine handed the Soul Gem fragment over and the Three Plagues can work together to destroy you mortals.** "

"Nile, Amphibian, and Louse, working together? That's not very fair!" Zoë protested.

" **Neither is this!** " Louse threw four of her arms at them, forcing the two mortals to dodge in order to avoid the lethal fists covered in exoskeleton armor. The Niles than dissolved by cascading onto the bridge. Zoë grabbed Barnes and made him get inside a Toyota Cruiser. As the bridge got full of blood that formed into more copies of Nile, Zoë grabbed the wheel and started driving towards the mainland, but Louse enlarged one of her arms to act as a road diverting the van in a loop. The mortals had to jump off the vehicle and climb back up to the bridge to face the walking blood zombies.

"Well, Plan A being to avoid them failed," Zoë sighed.

As if things couldn't get worse, Louse's lice suddenly dispersed and began to swim inside Nile's miniature clones. The latters began to have their own vibranium exoskeleton armor growing from the inside, which now made them look like armored walking blood zombies.

Barnes readied his gun. Just then, white webbing landed on all the clones' bloody feet. As they struggled to get out of it, their movements began to slow down, and suddenly, the blood on their feet began to solidify.

"They're... stuck," Barnes realized.

"Hey, guys!"

They looked up and saw a vigilante hanging upside down from the nearest pillar.

"Hey, you're the wall-crawler that Stark brought in at the airport," Barnes pointed at Spiderman.

"And you're the guy with the metal arm," Spiderman jumped down to the ground. He looked at Zoë. "I'm going to guess that you're a top secret scientist that the bad guys want to kidnap."

"Sure, let's go with that." Zoë looked back at the clones struggling to get off. "How did you know that we were in trouble?"

"Oh, I was on a field trip until my Spider-senses alerted me and I saw the East River turning red." Spiderman then asked Barnes eagerly: "Did Captain America ask for me?"

"I don't know. He just told us to go to Queens..."

"I am from Queens."

"So _that's_ why he had us go to Queens!" Zoë slapped herself on the forehead. "Cap wasn't making use lure Louse away from the Wakandan Embassy! He wanted us to lure them as close to Queens as possible because he knows you live there!"

"And I'm kind of neutral on the entire Sokovia Accords deal." He paused when the clones began to wail as the solidification began to root its way up to their chests. "They're clotting. I knew it."

"You're joking." Barnes lowered his gun. "You gave them a blood clot?"

"Decreased movement makes liquid blood turn into solid gel," Spiderman explained. "Using my webbing, I delayed their actions, therefore delaying their blood movement. It helps being a geek."

The clones completely solidified, but the heroes couldn't celebrate. The vicious lice exploded out of the red rocks, causing fresh new clones to come out of the statues in doubles.

"No fair!" Spiderman exclaimed. "Now there's twice as many!"

"Yeah, Nile's made of hydra blood, so his clones get doubled," Zoë said. "He's supposed to be weakened by holy water and strengthened by polluted water, but see if you can keep clotting them with your webbing."

"On it." Spiderman shot a web swing at one of the pillars. For the next ten minutes, he was shooting and gluing the clones Nile clones onto the bridge. Or just tossing them into the river.

Barnes kept shooting at the armored lice, having no effect on them. "I'm almost out of bullets!" He warned Zoë.

"Gee, why'd you use bullets on bullet-proof vibranium lice?" the GAMA agent rolled her eyes.

"You're the genius! Don't you have a shampoo or something?" He started using his gun as a club to hit the invasive species with the way you'd swat a fly.

Zoë tapped her temples nervously. "Guys, you might want to figure something out quickly!" Spiderman shouted from the other side of the bridge. "The situation's heat is going up!"

"Heat!" Zoë snapped her fingers. "Lice hate heat and combs!"

"You know where we can find a 50 foot tall comb?" Barnes asked.

"No, but we have this!" Zoë pulled the container holding the Soul Stone fragment. "How did Anubis do it again? Ah, yes." She held the container up in the air. The plagues paused in their action to see sunlight reflect through the container's barriers and illuminating the stone fragment in an orange light.

 _Ra, morning and evening star._

 _Grant me your heat from afar_

 _So that with justice I shall smite_

 _The ones who defy your might._

The sun sent light transmissions to the container, making the fragment glow like police car signals. Zoë instantly held out the container and a heat beam charged. The vibranium lice wailed as the heat blasts moved in a clockwise matter, making them melt faster than ice cubes. Spiderman swung up to reach the highest point of the bridge to avoid getting hit by the beams. Nile must have thought of his action as a good call, because it instantly summoned its clones and went back to the East River's waves.

"AAH!" Zoë's hands began to redden. Even inside a container, the Soul Stone was easily burning through the minerals and reaching the holder's skin. Despite the pain, she still kept holding the weapon up to keep the Third Plague's soldiers at bay. Then the pain started going _inside_ Zoë, making her scream as she felt the burning heat boiling her blood. She began to lose consciousness.

"Erskine!" Barnes slapped away the container from Zoë's hands and caught her before she could hit the earth. Louse wasted no time and reformed herself to grab the contained stone fragment and jump in the river. Nile formed a bloody bubble for Louse to land on and the two sank their way into the river. The blood drained away like stain being cleansed away by OxiClean, making the East River look completely normal. Like it did not suffer the same scenario of the River Nile.

Spiderman came down to join them. "I'm sorry. I couldn't stop them..."

"Tell that to Cap." Barnes growled when he saw a Wakandan helicopter pulling in.

 _An hour later, at the Wakandan Embassy_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Zoë screamed as she dunked her hands back in the bucket full of cold water and ice cubes. The others winced at the level of her screams.

"Look, until the ice melts, you will cool down your hands in the ice bucket," Bonnie said. And for some apparent tantalizing reason, she was eating dulce de leche ice cream in front of her human partner. "I mean, what were you thinking? You know we're not supposed to use our bare hands when handling with Soul Stone fragments. OK, normally we'd use the equipment from the Science Division lab..."

"Gah! Who cares? We lost the fragment and it's all my fault!" Zoë lamented.

"I couldn't stop them, Captain America." Spiderman lowered his head in guilt. "I'm sorry."

"Nobody saw it coming, soldier." Cap gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "At first, Louse seemed to be the only Plague we were dealing with. I thought that if we lured her... it away towards _you_..."

"I'd trap them in a web?" Spiderman laughed. "Sounds awesome! Except lice normally don't fall prey to spiders."

"Disadvantage fell upon us," T'Challa said. "At first, we were lucky enough to deal with Nile, Amphibian, and Louse when they attacked us on their own, but they prove to be a more challenging obstacle when they start working together. I can't imagine our fates if we had just dealt with the first three plagues all together."

"And now they took the fragment that brought Amphibian to life." Zoë bit her lip as the cold kept hitting her skin. A beeping sound came out of Cap. He pulled out his phone and put it on speaker when he found out it was Sam on the other line.

" _Cap, we got a massive problem. The Dora Milaje soldier that Seth kidnapped? She turned into the first female plague..._ "

"Let me guess, she took the mercury?" Cap said.

" _How'd you know?"_

"Let's just say it's old news. She made off with the Soul Stone fragment along with Nile. Dealing with two plagues at once is a whole lot harder than one."

" _Shit. And to make matters worse, the chick took another person away._ "

"Did she take Amphibian's host?" T'Challa asked.

" _No, the agent's still with SHIELD. It's worse. Steve, Louse took Sharon._ "

Cap's grip on the table tightened. For a moment, he managed to squeeze in the metal as if it were tin foil.

"That doesn't make sense." Zoë managed to ignore the pain the ice was giving her. "I thought Louse was aiming me as the next Fourth Plague host for Seth. Why kidnap Captain America's girlfriend?"

"Where were the other Avengers when Louse attacked?" T'Challa asked.

" _On their way to Thor's spaceship. Tony revealed to Ross that Thor was going back to question Loki, and Ross..._ " Sam answered.

"Wanted Loki apprehended?" Bonnie guessed in boredom as she licked off the ice cream on her spoon. "He does realize that Loki's a god, right? You can just lock up a god in a mortal prison."

" _Yep. Sharon tagged along because she wanted to see Steve again... and also because I kinda told her that Zoë was Erskine's grandkid and Sharon was excited about meeting the living family of the scientist who made Steve buff... But then, you know, we had a lice invasion on the highway._ "

"So the evil lady was able to be in two places at once," Barnes said.

"I still don't get it." Zoë pulled her reddened hands out of the bucket and shook them in frustration. "Why would Louse joke about me being a possible host if she simply took Agent Carter with her? And why did she keep talking about the Black Widow?"

" _She asked about Nat too?_ " Sam asked through the phone. " _She looked confused when she saw that our beloved Russian wasn't with us_."

"Who did the Third Plague expect Black Widow to be with?" Spiderman asked in confusion.

His question got the attention of Cap, who managed to put the pieces with us. "Of course! Nile attacked me and Amphibian attacked Vision because we were with Anubis! I bet that Seth's remaining powers of the Eye of Ra might link him with Anubis while he's got the necklace on, or since Seth is Anubis' father, perhaps Seth is using their blood connection to track them!"

" _That makes sense, but don't you think that if that was true, Louse would be attacking Nat or the news would have spread the headlines of the Hulk going nuts?_ " Sam asked suspiciously from the phone.

"Oh, wait." Bonnie pulled out the Themis Protocols and flipped through the pages. "Section 2, Paragraph 3 declares that all divine immigration organization agents' main habiting locations will be unknown to the other agents and will be shrouded from the knowledge of undesired ears."

"What?" Spiderman asked.

"The agents' main domiciles are completely classified. We are not allowed to know our coworkers' addresses nor can we try finding them or visiting them unless it's for an emergency. In other words, nobody knows who lives where except for the boss, Tiresias. And if somebody tries to locate us via phone or email tracking, mist magic keeps us covered."

"And we have _no_ idea where Anubis and Marion live!" Zoë realized. "So if we don't know and we got nothing in the GAMA data that can locate them, than Seth and his plagues can't find them! By bringing Black Widow and the Hulk to Marion's hometown, they've hidden them in the mist. That's why Louse was unable to find Black Widow!"

"Joys of private rights," Barnes gave a small smirk.

"Wait!" Bonnie cut the good move. "Anubis and Marion's three-days leave ends in two days. Once that happens, they'll be back out in the open and who knows if Seth will either send the Fourth Plague or give Louse the privilege to torment Black Widow?"

"You're not going to suggest them to just stay home, are you?" Spiderman asked grimly.

"No, that's stuff Stark would do."

"So what now?" Barnes asked. "It's not like the bad guy is just going to sit down and wait until the other guy comes back out."

"Perhaps while we wait for Anubis and Marion to come back, we can go back to Sekmeth. The least we can do is try to figure out _where_ the next five pinpoints are located, who they are, and prevent Seth from plaguing them before he can unleash the tenth one and kill... well, everyone whose a firstborn," Cap said.

"Wait, are you saying that everyone who's a single child or an older sibling will die?" Spiderman gulped. "You know, I happen to be an only child."

"Don't worry, they'll stop Seth before he does anything crazy," Zoë said. She looked at her hands nervously. "In the meantime, Bonnie and I have to clock out."

"Yeah, we need to get back to your house to get the seaweed for the Soul stone poisoning removal," Bonnie said. "Good thing we know that Colchis Kelp grows in Florida and we can use it to cure any mortal affected by the Soul Stone... if they are still alive."

Bonnie and Zoë made their way to the door. "You guys are just gonna leave?" Spiderman asked incredulously.

"You people really need to read the Themis Protocols!" Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Divine immigration organizations are not allowed to go to other countries!"

"But they can contact each other in case of dire emergency," T'Challa pointed out.

" _Only_ after we give them a chance to protect themselves. If a divine immigration organization admits it can't handle the attacking threat, that's when it can contact others for support," Zoë said. "GAMA never contacts other organizations but Tiresias knows the locations of all of them. Try figuring out with Sekmeth or wait until Anubis gets back on the possible locations of the next plagues. Once the countries have been singled out, ask Tiresias if you can use the contact list to reach out to the leaders of the organizations and help them prepare for the threat. But remember, if two more countries get attacked, it's a revealing gathering of all the organizations with the UN."

Cap sighed. "Very well, but take Bucky with you. In case Louse attacks you again, he'll be there."

Barnes merely shrugged. Zoë blushed in bafflement. "Bonnie and I are capable of taking care of each other," she said firmly.

"Girl, I'm not the one who needs protecting." Bonnie remarked.

 _Meanwhile, in Thor's spaceship_

"Yes?" Loki snapped his fingers. The doors opened and Thor came in. Naturally, the king of Asgard threw the nearest vase at Loki. The God of Mischief caught it with his bare hands.

"Glad to see you among us, brother." Thor smirked.

"Whatever suits you." Loki put the vase down on the nearest table. "How's our old friend Anubis?"

"He's in for a lot, really." Thor paced a bit in the room. "He recently found out that his father is stealing his idea of the plagues."

"How so?"

"Using human hosts to mark his points, making each plague to target one of the Avengers, and planning on decimating every firstborn on Earth with the final plague, whether they are mortal or immortal."

"A good half of the population then," Loki said grimly. And let's make a note that this came from the guy who tried destroying the realm of the Frost Giants and taking over Asgard and Earth respectively. "Haven't we seen this scenario repeatedly? Somebody saves the lives of millions by destroying those of a thousands and it changes history."

"There's more." Thor gestured to the nearest armchairs. The two gods sat down to continue their conversation. "There was also a discovery that Seth might have been freed by somebody who promised Seth to have what he deserved if he afterwards gave him the Soul Stone and wiped the Earth of all possible threats." Thor leaned over. " _You_ were given the scepter holding the Mind Stone and an army by someone who wanted the Tesseract holding the Space Stone. This can't be a coincidence."

Loki sighed. "I guess not. Very well, I shall tell you. His name is Thanos and the best thing you should know is that he's a pure dark soul. I don't know what his plans are for the Infinity Stones, but what I do know is that when he gave me the staff and an army to take over the Earth, he made me promise that once I dominated the planet, I would return to him the Tesseract _and_ the scepter. As a plus, he said that he would never bother the Earth once our trade was over."

"So he had no intention of letting you keep the scepter?"

"None."

"So he hoped to get two stones from you, and it seems pretty obvious that he freed Seth just to get the Soul Stone. I'm assuming he doesn't know about the Aether or Doctor Strange. Did he say anything about the Power Stone?"

"Other than having someone else fetch it for him. I think the man's name had an assonance with Roland." Loki noticed his brother tapping nervously on the armchair. "You're not going to tell your friends, are you?"

"The problem with Seth and the plagues is already having them preoccupied, I wouldn't want them to overdo their panic with the news of another possible alien invasion." Thor got up and made his way to the door. "I'd better go back to them. They'll probably want to start finding the next pinpoints."

"Thor, wait!" Loki made his brother pause and turn to see him look a bit more worried than usual. "You said that Seth would aim at all firstborns, whether they were mortal or immortal. What about the demigods?"

"What about them?"

"Well, a majority of them aren't the firstborn children of their immortal parents, but at the same time they might be the firstborns of their mortal parents. How will that affect them?"

Thor bit his lip. It was an excellent point that the God of Mischief had just made there. What would happen to the demigod populace on Earth? Would they all die from being half-mortal firstborns? Or survive because they were among the long lists of immortal offspring?

"That is an excellent question. I'll ask Anubis when I see him."

"And while you're off playing hero, I don't suppose you could come up with a cover story for me? I need to go to Norway."  
Thor sighed. "Loki, she made it clear that she'd never forgive you. She told you no 76 years ago and she slammed the door on you after the Battle Of New York. You really think that she'd take your apologies in just because you are linked by blood?"

"I can't stop trying." Loki shrugged. "That's what fathers do."


	10. Online Chess and Demigods

Chapter 10: Online Chess and Demigods

Marion gave a two-dollar tip for the pizza delivery guy and closed the door behind her, bringing in the carton boxes to the kitchen table. "OK, we got marguerita, mushroom and peppers, and a double pepperoni and bacon." Opening the boxes filled the kitchen with mixed aromas of pizza crust, cheese, vegetables and meat.

"Why'd you get two of the same pizza?" Banner asked as he cut himself a slice of marguerita and placed it on a plate.

Before Marion could say anything, Anubis constantly snickering while typing on a laptop like a maniac made her sigh. "Anubis, are you _really_ going to be on your laptop while we have guests over?"

"You know that this time is the only time I get to play online chess with other immortals online." He said. A ding came from the laptop. "Ooh, Kory responded... and screwed up my horseman. Dang it!"

"You're playing with Kory?" Marion asked. "Anubis, it's practically midnight back in Norway, you really think online chess is a good way to sleep tight?"

"It's the best time of the day to share our mutual distastes for fathers." He cleared his throat and read: "'Dear Anubis, thank you very much. It's very nice to know that somebody else understands what it's like to have a jerkass godly father who could care less of what you think of him. Good thing I've set up a moat of lionfish in my backward in case he tries to break in to apologize.'" Ooh! You have a lionfish moat? I am SO jealous!" He typed. "Oh, and I think I'll move this pawn..."

"You really had a bad social life in Egypt," Banner shook his head in pity. Natasha merely ate her mushroom and pepper slice.

"Marion, do you want me to ask Kory how Aaricia's doing?" Anubis looked up from the laptop.

"Aw, but of course!" Marion smiled.

Anubis typed on the computer and waited for the ding. "Ha! I might just win!" The ding came and he groaned. "Aw, man! Kory beat me!"

"Sounds like your Kory friend is quite the chessmaster," Natasha smirked.

"Doy. She's Loki's kid."

Natasha choked on her slice of pizza. "And here we go," Marion sighed.

"Loki _reproduced_?" Banner exclaimed.

"Twice, actually." Anubis kept typing. "Marion, Kory says that Aaricia is doing great and that she and a bunch of her demigod buddies in Norway are trying their air-quote hardest to create the best idea for Aaricia's upcoming sweet sixteen."

"Shit! I can't believe I forgot! Next Wednesday is Aaricia's birthday!" Marion facepalmed herself.

"Uh, I'm sorry to interrupt your teenage drama, but...Loki's kid?" Banner was still bewildered.

"'Hey, Kory. Guess what? Banner and Romanoff are with us and they accidentally found out that you are Loki's kid.'" Anubis sent his next message and waited for a minute until he told Banner. "Hulky, Kory asked me to tell you to swing Loki by the foot like you did back in New York, but this time until his skull breaks."

"Why would she want me to give her father a lethal concussion?" Banner asked.

"Were you paying attention in the last minutes?" Anubis asked. "Kory's hated her father the same way I hate Seth. Well, except she's more physically expressive about it since 1942."

"Wait, how old is she?" Natasha asked, confused.

"Remember what I told you about demigods?" Marion took a bite of pizza. "They live 2700 years, stop aging at one point in their lives, and need to be killed through drastic measures. Kory, or Kory Ikolson- because demigods have both mortal and immortal identities and Kory Ikolson is her mortal identity- was born in Tønsberg, Norway, in December 21st, 1920. So technically speaking, she is exactly as old as Captain America, but in her case, she's stuck to look like she's in her early twenties until she dies in probably the 47th century."

"Add the salt to the vinegar, she found out her dad was Loki in World War II right after HYDRA burned down Tønsberg to get the Tesseract and Odin came with some Asgardians to inspect the church the Cube was once hidden," Anubis said. "Kory lost her mother in the rubble and she did _not_ take it well when not only did she find out that her father was the God of Mischief, but he wouldn't lift a finger to change her life. And since 70% of demigods stop aging when they meet their divine parent, Kory stopped aging in 1942. But meeting your dad on the day HYDRA destroyed your hometown was no good on Kory: even though it meant her demigod powers kicking in, she now suffers from MPD."

"MPD?" Banner asked. "You mean, multiple personality disorder?"

"Trust me, it's not the weirdest side effect I've seen when it came to demigods or demigoddess discovering their godly heritage and ceasing their age." Anubis paused his hogging the laptop in order to grab three slices of bacon and pepperoni pizza and devouring them all together like a three-layered sandwich. "Eternal youth is like a coming-of-age ceremony for those hybrids and they're not pretty. A majority of the time, it's either because their godly parents stop by for a visit or their powers bloom. Minor cases include abusive mortal stepparents, traumatic experiences leading to early exposure, or human sacrifices."

"Wait, why human sacrifices?" Marion raised a finger.

"You'd be surprised by how often the Aztecs and Incas would unknowingly do a human sacrifice by killing a god's child. I think Quetzalcoatl made El Dorado melt at least five hundred times when the priests kept being idiots and sacrificing Old Q's daughters. That's why the Spanish could never find the city of gold."

"Aside from you and Marion, does anybody else that your friend is Loki's kid?" Natasha asked.

"Uh, the immortals we interact with on the online gaming chat room, whoever her friends are in Norway, and the NU... Last one being until Kory and Aaricia quit the agency."

"Kory and Aaricia quit the Northern Lights Union?" Marion exclaimed.

"Yeah, Kory told me they quit in November.  
"Anubis! Why didn't you say anything?" Marion slammed her hands on the table.

"Do I ask you what you message to your friends on Facebook?" Anubis asked sarcastically. "Besides, Aaricia's _your_ childhood best friend. She could have told you herself now that she no longer works for those bastards."

Marion calmed down. "I guess you're right. The way the Scandinavian League hires its mortal agents is just savage."

"The Scandinavian League?" Natasha spoke up. "I thought the agencies don't contact each other."

"True." The teenage redhead nodded. "But those who co-work can contact between one another. Many organizations prefer to work alone, and then there are some who like to co-work in couples. The only ones to work as a _trio_ are the Scandinavian League, and unlike the Greek alphabet naming of most of the organizations would imply, the SL are considered the big guys in the Themis Protocols because while the other divine immigration organizations rely on soothsayers or prophets to guide them like how GAMA has Tiresias, the ones in Norway, Sweden, and Finland are the only ones to be guided by three hags called the Norns."

"Thor told me about them after Ragnarok hit Asgard and he kept cursing them," Banner said. "Aren't they like the Viking versions of the Greek Fates?"

"Most myth interpretations aren't real," Anubis closed the laptop. "The Norns are the only known existing figures that 'Fates' would label. Each decides what was to happen, what is happening, and what will happen in an individual's fate. They don't decide Fate with a capital F itself, but what the fate of a mortal and a god should be. One Norn runs a divine immigration... and frankly, the entire Scandinavian League is one Amazon brigade mayhem. All the employees are female and three-quarters of them are either Norse immortals who live away from Asgard, foreign immortals who immigrated, or demigods who still have yet to outlive the mortals.

"By the time Kory found out her heritage, she came in contact with other native immortals who warned her not to get on the Scandinavian League's bad side, so she tried to avoid being spotted as possible. Problem is, when you are an offspring of Loki suffering from MPD, you have at least half of your personalities showing off and one of them defines M. Hyde tormenting his Dr. Jekyll."

"Like how I have my issues with the Hulk?" Banner asked.

"Exactly. Her... dark side calls herself by her immortal identity, Kaïra Lokisia. She still hates her father, but she definetly has the sense of greed as the God of Mischief. Heck, the only reason NU tracked her down in the first place was that she tried taking over Norway in 1968."

"I just can't understand why she just went for _Norway_ ," Marion started storing the spare pizza slices in containers after she made sure that the others didn't want more. "Sure, the skiing, the fishing, the northern lights, and probably the blonde Viking hunks... but why take over just _one_ country and a cold one? If it had been me, I'd try taking over the Bahamas or someplace hot that I could vacation wherever I want." She put the full containers in the fridge. "Still, what did those jackasses at NU do this time to finally make Kory and Aaricia quit?"  
"Kory wouldn't get into details. She just claims it was family iss... OOOOOOOOOH." Anubis grimaced.

"You think that Loki took the opportunity to go to Norway?" Banner guessed.

 _Meanwhile_

Sarasota, Florida, is one ideal town in Florida. The beaches, the aquarium, the mini golf, sunshine and palm trees... It's anyone's dream to live in one of those big fancy houses near St Armand's Circle that border the white sand beach of Lido...

"Ouch!"

Well, most of them.

After arriving in their Florida neighborhood, Bonnie, Zoë, and Barnes instantly went to Zoë's house to get the scientist the Colchis Kelp wrap her hands needed to get rid of the minor Soul Stone poisoning. But while the kelp was capable of curing the poisoning, it had a very unpleasant stinging effect on the skin. Barnes had to hold down Zoë's wrists while Bonnie applied the seaweed lotion on her hands.

"That's what you get for holding an Infinity Stones without the right protection." Bonnie shrugged. Once she had covered the hands with the entire lotion, she threw away the aluminum foil and washed the brush in the kitchen sink. "Zoë, do you still have any of that Hyperion Sunscreen?"

"Sorry, Bon. I finished it all." Zoë shook her head.

"Damn. I have to run to my house across the street to get it from my bathroom cabinet. Barnes, keep her wrists pinned down." The banshee made a run out to the front door. Zoë kept biting her lips. The Colchis Kelp was by far the most painful healing plant ever to grow in the Americas.

Barnes' grasp left her right wrist, leaving her a bit surprised when she looked to see his metal fingers clutching on hers, leaving the scientist rather surprised. It still felt rather odd, sitting next to the assassin who killed her parents while his creators killed her grandfather. Had she followed the cycle of revenge, Zoë would probably die. She wasn't like her action-prone colleagues, Marion, Anubis, and Bonnie. Her muscles were best at handling scientific research.

Besides, he risked his life sparring her from what HYDRA ordered him to do to her. Such a sacrifice was worth letting the assassin live.

"Thanks for removing the chips off me," Barnes said quietly.

"I didn't take out all of them," Zoë said bluntly. "Louse attacked before I could remove the one closest to your brain." She wished she hadn't said that. Now he was tightening his hold and the vibranium was not making the kelp lotion any soother.

"Will the trigger words still affect me even with just one chip in?" He asked.

"I should hope not. Dr. Strange used his magic to burn the chips to oblivion so they could never be used again. They were supposed to match whatever are the last eight words HYDRA used to hypnotize you. Since you only have the first chip left inside you, I'm guessing that until I can remove it, you'll get whatever reaction you get whenever you hear the word."

He merely nodded. His metal fingers let go and moved upward. Zoë almost feared he'd crush her skull, but he merely let his fingers through her brown locks like a curious child. Unlike most metals she had to deal with, Zoë noticed that his arm's vibranium was quite warm. Close to the heat of a normal human body.

"I'm kind of surprised," he admitted. "I killed your parents. Yet you let me live."

"Don't get your hopes up." Zoë gently pushed his arm away. "I don't like you because you killed them. But I don't hate you because you saved me."

"Hm."

"Besides, what chances do I have against an ex-HYDRA killing machine? The worst I could do is slap you."

It was in-between a joke and a threat, but that didn't stop Barnes from smirking. Just then, a door was heard opening and closing. Barnes and Zoë put some distance between each other to keep Bonnie from guessing that something happened while she was gone.

"Zoë, we got a problem! Anubis and Marion left their location!" Bonnie held up her phone. "And the agent body heat locating satellites spotted them in Norway with Banner and Black Widow!"

"Oh, that's not good," Zoë grumbled.

"The plagues will locate him," Barnes said.

"Well there's that and two other problems. Divine immigration organization agents in a foreign country, that's bad and problem one. The fact that they are in a Scandinavian League country is problem number two."

 _Morning in Tønsberg, Norway_

The sunrise illuminated the sky in its bright orange colors with slashes of punk and fading dark blue that reflected onto the fjord. While adults were waking up to head off to work, many children went out to play in the snow or skate on the ice. Fishermen went out on their boats to throw their nets in the cold waters and bring back the catches of the day.

As the citizens of Tønsberg went on with their normal lives, a blonde fifteen-year-old went out for a morning stroll on the rocky beaches that bordered the Oslofjord. Normally, a girl of her age, especially a _mortal_ girl, would prefer spending her morning in bed or maybe drink hot cocoa and read a magazine of American hunks rather than go out in the cold to walk by the cold waters. Falling and possible hypothermia was something she would dread the most, but since this girl in particular was familiar with the peculiar things in this world, she knew there were worst things out there than dying from freezing water exposure.

But frankly, with the tensing stuff happening back home, a cooling walk by the shore was one of the best remedies.

It was only by the time she walked towards the tidal pools, barricaded from the town's view by layers of trees, that she heard a wailing a sound. It sounded like it wasn't human, but at the same time, it sounded like it was afraid.

The girl took precautions. The rocks on the tidal pools could easily make you slip and cut your skin open.

After five minutes of cautious stepping, she rushed as fast as she could when she saw a small-wired cage trapped in a tidal pool. And in it was a strange creature, with four flippers, a fish tail, and a face that made it look like a hybrid of a horse and a giraffe. Well, except it had teeth...

"Aw, you poor thing..." She put her hands on top of the cage. A lock prevented her from opening the cage. "Evidently, somebody didn't want you to run off."

The creature whimpered. The girl went through her purse and pulled out a hand- sized wire cutter. "Good thing I have this guy just in case. You might want to back up."

The small thing backed up. The girl put her hand on top of the cage to hold it down while her other one used the wire cutter to snip the strings. After close to ten minutes of cutting, she managed to create an opening big enough for the creature to crawl out of.

"C'mon," she said encouragingly. She held out her hand to it. It hesitated at first, but then the creature settled to squirt water out of its nose and cuddle in her hand, making a very weird but cute purr. "Oh, you are _so_ adorable!"

Her fondling over the beast took a pause when she turned her head to hear distant feet walking but approaching. "Hurry up, mate!" A gruff male voice was heard speaking. "The beast can't be far in that cage of his!"

The creature whimpered in fear. Luckily, a fog was beginning to cover the fjord, so the crooks could not see the girl quickly bundle the beast with her scarf, pick it up in her arms, and run as fast as she could back to town.

"Oy! The beast is gone!" One of the voices shouted in the distance.

"Aye, and it didn't escape on its own! Someone has been setting our bounty free!"

The girl ran as fast as she could until she reached the town. She avoided any contact with any other people she might know while tucking the beast's head under the folds of her scarf. Finally, she reached the neighborhood in Tønsberg were many rich or well-off citizens lived in big mansions. She went through a driveway under a row of cypress trees and unlocked the front door to the green-and-cream yellow mansion that bordered the Oslofjord.

She quietly closed the door behind her. "Kory?" She called out. "Are you home?"

No answer. She put down her purse and carried her new friend to the kitchen. Once she settled it on the kitchen counter, she quickly ran to the laundry room and came back with a water basin that she filled with water from the kitchen. After she struggled to carry it to the counter, the creature eagerly jumped in and started making a splashing mess.

"Having fun, aren't you?" She smirked. The creature squirted some water on her, making her laugh and poke its nose. "Wait here, silly thing, while I go get a sponge."

"Since when do you have a water horse?"

The girl yelped and held a hand over her heart. Four people were standing in the doorway of the kitchen. "Anubis and Marion... With the Hulk and Romanoff?"

"Hi," the adults said in unison.

"What are you guys doing here?" the blonde girl went to hug Marion. "You might get a notification from GAMA or NU!"

"I know, Aaricia, but things are getting messed up." Marion admitted.

"Where did you manage to find this baby water horse?" Anubis walked to the kitchen counter and bent down to have a better look at the creature swimming in the basin.

"A water horse? It looks more like a miniature Loch Ness monster." Banner sat down to have a curious look himself.

"Hey, give him some space!" Aaricia pushed the men away from the water horse. "He just went through a bad time!"

"Did he lose his mother?" Romanoff asked.

"It was bound to anyway," Anubis said. He gently stroke the water horse down its neck, making it adjust comfortably. "These creatures are very rare. Back in the old days, only a hundred could live by generation. The moment one lays an egg, it dies before the baby hatches. And yes, Banner, 'water horse' is the more fashionable western attribute for primarily aquatic beasts like hippocampi or the Loch Ness monster." He turned to Aaricia. "Does Kory know about your new pet?"

"No, I just found him this morning." Aaricia went through the drawers until she found a sponge. The water horse waved its flippers at her as if to expect a hug while she scrubbed its smooth skin. "The poor thing was in a cage trapped in a tidal pool. If I hadn't saved it, either it would have died of hunger or those crooks would have done something nasty to him!"

"What crooks?" Banner straightened his glasses.

"IN poachers." Anubis growled.

"It's a frequent thing where some INs in certain countries hunt down mythological creatures and try to sell them in the black market," Marion explained. "Most of the time, they are hunted because of false rumors claiming that their organs have healing powers."

"And with such poachers, many species get as endangered as the pandas." Anubis pointed at the water horse. "Like I said, there usually was one hundred of his kind per generation, but ever since the Loch Ness monster myth, they've been hunted for trophies. Now it's only ten per generation."

"Barbarians," Aaricia said. She finished scrubbing the baby water horse and pulled it out to scrub him dry. "I hope you guys aren't here to steal him from me."

"We didn't know you were going to adopt some sea pony," Marion said. "Aaricia, did Kory's dad show up at all?"

"Are you asking for recently or in the past seventy years?" Aaricia rubbed the water horse's horns, making it react with neighing laughter. "Ooh, aren't you a ticklish fellow?"

"Aaricia!" Marion waved her hand.

"Did Loki show up in the last two days?" Banner asked firmly.

"Yeah, he came in the middle of the night. I woke up around 1am or something after I heard what sounded like Kory shouting. Next thing I heard was Kory springing one of the security trapdoors open and I saw Loki falling into the backyard's lionfish moat from my window." Aaricia briefly walked towards the stove and pulled out a screen that was hiding in the fan. Footage of all over the house was shown to them and Aaricia taped on the one showing the moat in the backyard. Puddles heading toward the fjord suggested that something walked away. "Looks like Loki walked away after she dumped him in the moat."

"How'd she get the lionfishes to survive the Norwegian cold?" Romanoff asked.

"They're Asgardian lionfish." Aaricia pushed the screen back into the fan. The water horse whimpered at the sight it had received on those white-and-blood red colored marine animals. Seeing that her new pet was looking uncomfortable, Aaricia picked it up in her arms and hugged. "Don't worry, Fjordson. You don't have to swim with those meanies. You can swim in the indoor pool until I can convince Kory to let me install a tank aquarium just for you."

" _Fjordson_?" Anubis arched an eyebrow. "Fjordson the Water Horse?"

"What are you going to do once that thing..." Romanoff began.

"His name is Fjordson," Aaricia corrected the Black Widow. "And don't worry, I'll eventually figure out how to handle him when he becomes an adult."

"Aaricia, what about Loki? Did Kory tell you what he wanted?" Marion asked.

Aaricia opened a drawer and started matching Fjordson with colorful ribbons until she settled to tie a blue bowtie on him. "Sorry. Kory left in the morning. One of her other personalities took over and dragged her body to work."

"Shit! Which one?"

"The party animal personality who runs the Nine Worlds Club with Bacchus in Oslo. We got a door upstairs that leads right to the capital."

"Did Kaïra show up at all when Kory talked to Loki?" Anubis asked.

"Yes."

"And she also wanted Loki kicked out."

"Duh."

Anubis sighed in relief. "Nothing has changed."

"Oh, and she kinda stole the Tesseract from Loki's pocket."

"WHAT?" They all screamed. Fjordson squirted water out of his nose in startle. Aaricia cuddled him in her arms to soothe him.

"AARICIA!" Marion slammed her hands on the counter. "Couldn't you have mentioned that sooner?"

"Hey, you asked if Loki showed up!" Aaricia pointed out. "If you wanted to know if Kaïra took the opportunity to steal an Infinity Stone while Kory and Loki were distracted with their argument, you should have said it sooner!"

"How did you find out that Kaïra stole the Tesseract?" Anubis asked.

"I didn't have to recheck the security footage. Once Loki got kicked into the moat, I heard Kory shutting all the doors and windows in the mansion, but while I heard her doing _that_ , I saw Kaïra in the bathroom holding the Tesseract in her hand. Now I don't know if Kaïra's either frolicking around with the cube in her hands or if she's holding it in Kory's tri-conscious."

"A tri-conscious?" Banner asked.

"It's like a subconscious _within_ the subconscious," Aaricia explained. "When someone has multiple personality disorder, his or her personalities get stored in the subconscious until something in the outside world triggers one of them awake, briefly taking over the original. But Kaïra had it bad because of her past and her heritage as the kid of the God of Mischief and Lies. Her subconscious tore apart when she hit her eternally young status, and when it reformed, it got split in half. One half where most of her personalities reside, her subconscious, and the other half becoming her tri-conscious, her _second_ subconscious. The home of her evil personality, Kaïra Lokisia. Unlike Kory and the other personalities, she doesn't need a trigger or Kory's body to take action. She has such strong powers, she can _phase_ herself into the real world and become solid to do whatever she wants!"

"So if I get this straight, Kory and Kaïra can be in two different places at once?" Banner gasped. "Kaïra can just... leave Kory's body whenever she wants?"

"Not without the side effects." Aaricia listed the side effects with her fingers. As she did, Fjordson tried to playfully bite them the same way a kitten tried to bite your thumb. "A, Kory can't be killed."

"Because if the original body got killed, the personalities would die, along with Kaïra," Romanoff guessed.

"Exactly. If Kory's in a situation where she could get physical harmed or in danger of death, it's Kaïra's sole excuse for stepping in to keep her safe. B, even with opposing moralities, Kaïra still shares Kory's feelings. She can't hurt me and they both have the same crush."

"I pity the guy already," Marion sighed.

"And C, Kaïra can only stay physical for twelve hours. Once those twelve hours have passed, she must go back to the tri-conscious to rest for another twelve hours. As you can tell..."

"Time out. If Kaïra can phase herself out of Kory, can she turn invisible?" Banner asked. "Because if Kory and Loki couldn't even notice her stealing the Tesseract from his own pocket, then that means she should have taken the opportunity to make it so that she won't be seen."

"And gods know why Kaïra would want to steal the Tesseract." Anubis turned to Marion. "Marion, take Banner back to Mediansburg. It looks like Romanoff and I will have to go to a club in Oslo."


	11. Airport Secrets and Nine Realms Club

Chapter 11: Airport Secrets and Nine Realms Club

A car drove past the Sarasota-Bradenton airport and into a forest where once the vehicle pulled in, no human civilization was in sight.

"I can't believe our teleporting module got a virus!" Bonnie grumbled as she got out of the car with Zoë and Barnes. "Now we have to go to the most lethal last resort ever!"

"Couldn't we just take a plane at the airport?" Barnes pointed at the direction of the airport they had just passed.

"Yes, let's walk in a public airport where the authorities will shoot us the moment they see the Winter Soldier walking in," Zoë said sarcastically. She walked over to the trunk and pulled out three panels of reflective mirrors and a gun. She handed the gun to Barnes and passed around the mirrors. "We'll need these."

"Why mirrors?" Barnes asked.

They headed into the jungle, thick in plants, trees, and vines that hung from branches like shriveled hair. It seemed like people would be having a nice walk in a green forest in warm temperature, but the further they walked, the shades of green got darker, the trees and branches got thinner than ribs, and the vines looked like they were coiling. They finally reached a clearing, revealing it to be nothing but a massive field of burned grass, and at the heart, the ruins of an airport with a massive plane crushing a good half of the building. Add into to fact that everything was covered in vines.

"An abandoned airport?" Barnes asked.

"An abandoned _GAMA_ airport." Bonnie pointed at the crashed plane. Even with the burned marks, one could easily read the words AIRBUS GAMA 200 on the sides, along with the association's logo on the old plane's wings.

"It was the last and only time GAMA tried to make an airport to bring in immortal immigrants," Zoë explained. "Before the Sarasota-Bradenton airport was built, there was another airport in Sarasota built previously in 1929. As a front, it was claimed to be a classified army airport that got contaminated and abandoned, but the real reason GAMA gave up on the idea of making airports was because of this first failed attempt."

"The first plane they brought in had a technical difficulty and it crashed, killing everyone onboard?" Barnes guessed.

"The only difficulty was that the three Gorgon sisters succeeded in stowing away and transform the passengers on board. Once they killed the pilots, the plane crashed right onto the airport, killing many GAMA agents and immortals who wanted to leave the country. The place burned down and GAMA decided that it was best to not make their own airport services. As for the Gorgons, they made the ruins their home."

"And remind me again why we are going inside an abandoned airport crawling with Gorgons?" Bonnie asked.

"Because there's a very good chance that the Gorgons neglected the fact that there's probably still a hidden, but functioning teleporting module in the facility. If they bothered to figure it out, they probably wouldn't stay in their territory."

"Right." Barnes clicked his gun. "Time to make sure that Perseus finished his job."

"You mortals really have got to stop believing in myths." Bonnie started taking the lead towards the airport. "Perseus never sawed Medusa's head off. He cut it off and when he flew off with it, a second one came out. But Medusa did have to do craniotomy therapy every 500 years."

They reached the front doors closest to them. Or most accurately, they found the opening closest to them. Back in the 20th century, automatic doors didn't exist, so the GAMA airport's doors were pretty much scattered all over the floor. The trio cautiously held their mirrors in specific angles to make sure that they wouldn't be surprised by any Gorgon attack.

They made it inside the hall full of dusty seats, a spoiled produce shop, and many corpses lying on the ground. A majority of those corpses weren't stone statues.

"These must be the leftovers of the immortals who died from the plane crash," Zoë said. A sour expression fell on her face when she saw that her foot accidentally landed on a skull.

"At least it's not worse than World War II or the people I killed." Barnes brushed away some vines, scaring away a group of lizards. "It must be horrible for those Gorgons. Being isolated, treated as monsters, and forced to turn people into stone with just one glare."

"You feel like you can relate," Zoë remarked.

" _That's awfully sweet of you._ "

They raised their mirrors and angled it until they could see a woman using vines to slide her way down and land right behind Barnes. He clicked his gun and Bonnie got her banshee nails ready until she noticed something off from Medusa's reflection, leading her to bravely turn to look at the Gorgon.

"What happened to your eyes?" Bonnie asked.

"What happened to her eyes?" Zoë asked, confused.

"It looks like she doesn't have any eyeballs." Barnes took a turn himself to see the pink human skin colored snake scale covered woman in a 1920s receptionist outfit and her black living garden snake hair tied up in a ponytail. "I'm done for. Aren't Gorgons supposed to be about 'turning people to stone?"

" _I had a problem coming up_ ," Medusa said in a hissing tone that made her 's's literally hiss. " _But the real question is why two GAMA agents and the Winter Soldier are in the ruins of a failed GAMA plan inhabited by Gorgons_?"

"For reasons that don't concern you," Zoë said without turning her back, "but I can assure you that we are not here for your heads. Just let us go do our business and we will leave you alone."

" _Tell that to my sisters. They've been at each other's heads ever since Seth made his proposal._ "

"Seth's proposal?" Bonnie scowled. "Since when do Gorgons ally with a god as bastardly as Seth? I mean, why would _you_ want to ally yourself with Seth, Medusa? Last time I checked, Poseidon assaulted you, a priestess of Athena..."

" _...And as the only mortal in the affair, I had to be punished and life fucks on._ " Medusa spat. Her snakes hissed and she strolled her hands through them for comfort. " _Getting messed by a god got me punished by a god, and if I get messed by a god like Seth, than believe me, I could suffer worse than craniotomy therapy. I knew that Seth would want nothing of a Gorgon without her petrifying eyes, so I had my snakes gobble them out and spit it into a swamp. Because I made myself useless without my powers, Seth has thrown an apple of discord between my sisters. Even now, they are competing inside the plane to decide which of them joins Seth or dies."_

"But it doesn't make sense." Zoë shook her head. "How did Seth manage to deal with the Gorgons and why would he do it? He's planning on using the tenth plague to destroy all mortal and immortal firstborns!"

"Yeah, and Euryale and Steno are twin sisters, both ironically born at the same minute while you are three decades younger than them." Bonnie pointed out. "What do they expect? That they'll survive even though they are the firstborns in the Gorgons family?"

The snakes on the Gorgon's head hissed. " _Easy,"_ she said. " _To answer your question, Seth didn't come himself. He had his bug minion deliver the message._ "

"Was it some kind of giant fly?" Bonnie asked.

" _No, it looked like some kind of giant flea._ "

"Louse?" Zoë arched an eyebrow. "But she kidnapped Sharon Carter. Did the giant bug come with a human host mean to reincarnate the Fourth Plague?"

Before Medusa could say anything, she turned her head to the sound of a distant wailing of hisses. " _I don't have much time. Eventually, my sisters will pick up on your mortal flesh._ "

"We just need to use the airport's teleporting module," Barnes said quickly.

" _It might be in the underground lab. We Gorgons have been unable to crack our way through the titanium security. Go to through the Terminal 2 and go in the ladies room._ " The wailing hisses got louder. " _You really need to hurry!_ "

"Wait! What about Sharon Carter?" Zoë insisted. "Did she turn into a plague?"

" _Louse said that she still needed to find the Fourth Plague's host, but after the mishap in Manhattan, Seth scolded her, reminding her that hosts can't come from the same countries. The human hosts primarily come from countries with the most mythological background..."_

"Of course! Thanks, Medusa!" Zoë ran towards the nearest escalator. Barnes and Bonnie followed her, pushing through the vines and jumping on muddy puddles while the screams in the back increased, indicating that Medusa was now clashing with her sisters. Finally, the trio made a right turn for the crumbled remains of Terminal Two and ran as fast as they could to the ladies room. Barnes shut the pink door behind them as fast as possible.

"I finally figured it out!" Zoë turned to her friends. "Seth is using Anubis' plagues system to mark countries with the most immortal background. First we had Egypt because of Ancient Egypt, USA for the American Gods, and Wakanda because of Sekmeth residing there! All we have to do is go to the countries that fit the description and we might just delay Seth!"

"Erskine, there's so many countries in the world with probably different gods..." Barnes began to say.

"And where do we find the most popular?" Zoë smirked. "Anubis just went to the next target: Norway."

"Of course! Asgardians and Norse mythology!" Bonnie gave a thumbs-up to her associate. "You are a pro, Zoë!"

"But even if Anubis is in Norway, how are you certain that this is where Seth will strike next?" Barnes continued.

"You are so simple minded." Zoë kicked a cabinet open and pulled down one of those strings they used to flush toilets. The toilet broke apart like a reversed Tetris game, revealing a staircase leading downward.

 _Back in Norway_

At first, Romanoff and Anubis didn't understand why the door to Oslo in Aaricia's house led right inside a fitting room cabinet in some clothing store, but after Romanoff located a pamphlet for the Nine Worlds Club hidden behind the cabinet's mirror, they came to the conclusion that this was their invitation to the club and they were in the shop to get party clothes. Romanoff went with an ocean blue cocktail dress, black heels and sunglasses while Anubis covered his bare torso with just a black leather jacket to cover it, white harem pants, golden sandals, and his hair greased back while sunglasses covered his golden eyes. As they followed the pamphlet's directions to the location of the club, Romanoff joked that Anubis almost looked like Tony Stark cosplaying as Aladdin.

The entrance to the club was in an alley within the neighborhood where Oslo would usually hold its annual Church music festival. They could by the guys eyeing them while hanging near a door. Romanoff nearly thought they were muggers until Anubis used his scent to recognize them of Vanir- descent. And just the fact that he wore the Eye of Ra on him made the Vanir open the door and into a pathway with bright colored bead curtains.

"How do we know where to find Kory's party animal personality in this joint?" Romanoff asked.

"Easy. Look for a girl who might look like your age except she has waist-long brown hair with a pink streak, wears skimpy clothing, and gulps down mugs full of nectar," Anubis said.

"This place might be full of immortals who could be fitting the profile..."

"Oh, please. How hard can it be... Oh Lord..." Anubis lost his words as he pushed through the last curtain into the Nine Worlds Club. He regretted even suggesting how hard it could be to find the daughter of Loki in this joint.

The Nine Worlds Club was probably the most massive thing ever. It was big enough to rival the interior of a cathedral and everything was divided into nine floors. The walls had black printed patterns of the branches of Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, and it filled each of the nine floors while its trunk stuck at the end, with one giant glass platform. A disco ball was hanging from the ceiling and spread lights in a rainbow order all over the club while everyone was dancing, drinking off at the bar, laughing at a game of poker, or making out on what appeared to be diamond couches. All this while the current song being played by the DJ was 'Sorry Not Sorry' by Demi Lovato.

Anubis was the one who looked the most startled when he saw the Nine Worlds Club patrons. "They're all mixes of immortals and mortals... and the immortals aren't even hiding their actual faces."

"She could be anywhere," Romanoff grumbled.

"Let's not get excited just yet. OK, so nine floors in the Nine Worlds Club... My best guess is that one floor represents one realm." He quickly looked at the floors he had on sight. "Blue floor for Jotunheim... There's no way that Kory would be on that floor. She despises her father. Though I must say, I do like those icicle chandeliers."

"The grey floor's got people dancing on coals," Romanoff commented.

"That's weird. The red floor's obviously Muspelheim. See, they got a Korean barbecue bar and belly dancers. I bet the grey floor you saw was for Nidavellir." Anubis grimaced when he saw the black floor representing Helheim. The patrons were drinking wine from crystal glasses shaped like skulls, playing cards, or dancing to some kind of music hybrid between disco and jazz. "You've got to be kidding."

"We can't just look at each floor!" Romanoff said impatiently. She grabbed a waiter by the shoulder. "Hi. Do you know where we can find a chick with a pink streak on her brown hair?"

"Best place to look is at the heart, honey!" The waiter Stan Lee shrugged and he went to carry his tray full of alcohol to the white floor, where a Frost Giant was laughing loudly with women at his side on a couch.

"'Best place to look is at the heart'," Romanoff repeated. "Thor used to say that Earth, or Midgard, was at the heart of the tree."

"And we're already on Earth. If the Nine Worlds Club uses the same placement of the tree for the floor, then..." Anubis looked ahead of them and discovered that while all the other floors kept the same spacing, the space between the Jotunheim-themed blue floor and Svartelfheim-themed purple floor was four times larger, making room for the glass platform to be more distant than the other floors. As they got closer, Anubis and Romanoff saw guards in bright leopard suits surrounding the platform to keep an eye on the other floors. If they crossed the glass catwalk, they could reach the platform that stuck on the wall, right where the Yggdrasil wall pattern had a circle with the labeled word 'MIDGARD' on it. Figures were seen relaxing on diamond couches and laughing their heads out while waiters brought them mugs filled with golden liquid being filled from barrels, half-man and half-goat creatures joined the main figures in the merry-making while playing pan flutes, and leopards were relaxing on the floor.

"Looks like the Midgard floor is for VIP demigods only," Anubis remarked.

"There's the target!" Romanoff cautiously pointed at one of the main laughing figures. She pointed at that figure because it was the only female one in this troupe of basketball athlete sized demigods. She was Caucasian but so white, her blue veins had twenty degrees of visibility. Her iconic hair and pink streak were tied up in a messy ponytail and she wore a bright green strapless cropped top, a black micro skirt, and knee high heeled black sandals. Her right hand bearing a snake ring was helping her hold up a mug and pour the liquid in her mouth, making her drink like a lapping dog. "Kory's party animal personality. Man, can she drink a lot!"

"Drinking human alcohol is one thing, a demigod is as immune as Captain America, but over-consuming godly nectar can lead to dizziness and a very long period of unconsciousness. Especially when a demigod is as young as Kory."

"How far do you think she went?" Romanoff asked. Just then, Kory began to hiccup and her head turn to spot the two.

"Hey! Looks like the dog and the spider decided to join in the reject club!" She called out.

"Canine Man!" One of the male demigods waved at them to come join them at the glass platform. Two guards came and escorted them through the glass catwalk until they made it to the couches. The leopards growled and the satyrs hid behind the demigod who welcomed Anubis and Romanoff.

"How are you doing, Bacchus?" Anubis shook hands with the demigod.

"Oh, the usual." Bacchus straightened his yellow pinstripe suit with aligned leopard spots. "I'm mostly making cash with Kory here by running this place." He gestured to Kory, who kept drinking off from mugs, before then introducing the third demigod. "And you remember Maui."

"Sup." The muscular bald man covered in Polynesian tattoos gave Anubis a thumbs-up.

"Wow, you look like the actor who plays you in that Disney movie!" Anubis whistled. "You know, the one with all the water..."

" _Moana_ , I know!" Maui chuckled. "I've been getting popularity because of the movie, I used my hook to make myself look like Dwayne Johnson!"

"But why does Bacchus look like Jack Black?" Romanoff asked rather bluntly.

"I needed a party look that would fit an overweight, middle aged man." The Roman demigod of wine shrugged. "But what about you? Are the Avengers siding with the Gods And Men Association?"

"You guys know about Seth and his evil plan?" Anubis frowned.

"Guy has started bragging about it on the immortal web through that Louse girl of his." Kory slammed her empty mug on a waiter's tray. Anubis grabbed her wrist and slammed it down before she could grab another full mug. "Hey!"

"Snap out of it! With all your drunkenness, you aren't even aware that Kaïra just robbed Loki and left off with the Tesseract!"

This caught the demigods' serious attention. Bacchus dismissed the waiters, told the satyrs to go entertain the floors, and sent the leopards to start sniffing the area. Kory calmed down in her intoxicated state and began to change. Her air was cleaner and her clothes grew to be a concealing turtleneck sweater, pants, and snow boots. "Kaïra stole the Space Stone? Shit! I don't even know why she'd want it!"

"She could be anywhere?" Romanoff asked.

"No. As much as she values her freedom, Kaïra knows that she can't risk getting me killed or injured. She's probably somewhere in Oslo, and if she robbed Loki while I was arguing with him, that means she only has six or five hours left until she has to go back in my head to rest, and if the Tesseract is with _her_..."

"Please don't tell me," Anubis begged, "that she could keep the Tesseract in your head and we'll have to wait twelve hours until she springs out with it."

"Reminds me of when Minerva came out of Jupiter's head."

"So we need to lure Kaïra in." Romanoff looked at Kory, who was shaking her head. "Sorry."

"You want me to act as bait?" Kory exclaimed. "It'd have to be a huge threat to lure her in!"

Just then, an explosion came from the ceiling and the disco fell onto the glass platform. The demigods, Anubis, and Romanoff fell onto the main ground and did their best to shield themselves from the falling glass shards. The patrons began to scream and the guards instantly ordered them to evacuate the Nine Worlds Club immediately. Something jumped from the ceiling and landed on the remains of the disco ball.

" **Romanoff,** " Louse sneered. " **We finally confront**."

 _Back in Florida_

Barnes used his metal arm to rip the titanium door open. Swampy water spilled inside the already murky, abandoned computer room. The semi-arched table rows faced a glass cylinder tied to the ceiling through many tangled wires.

"One of the _very_ first technological-based teleportation modules from a divine immigration organization!" Zoë eagerly ran to hug the cylinder.

"Aside from the many wires, how is this different from the teleporting module you have in your basement?" Barnes asked.

"Because this is like the prototype of all teleporting modules." Zoë tapped on the glass.

"Normally, agents relied on traveling talismans to move around in case of emergencies, but since the evolution of technology, we came with these machines to go faster," Bonnie explained. "But unlike the ones we have today, you needed to locate an individual to get to your destination."

"So if you were chasing a specific IN, you'd just set them up in one of these computers and the module will be set to transfer you!" Zoë began going through the computers with Bonnie. "Surely there's one that's operational."

Barnes walked around the lab. His fingers trailed on one of the tables until he noticed something particularly off about one of the machines. He walked over and grabbed the dustiest rolling chair. The moment he sat down, he lifted the keypad and had a look at it. "Erskine, you said that this airport was built and abandoned around the late 1920s, right?"

"Correct." Zoë grimaced as she and Bonnie continued to go through each computer, but all of them were either destroyed or damaged from swamp water exposure.

"Except this one isn't that old. It dates from after World War II."

"Uh?" The Gama agents looked at him. To further his point, he turned the keypad so that they could see the brand logo on the back of it, making them gasp.

"WHAT?" Zoë exclaimed.

"How did HYDRA products get inside GAMA?" Bonnie was just as shocked as she took the device and looked at it. "They're not supposed to know that we exist!"

"Maybe they found it by accident?" Barnes took the keypad and placed it back on the table. He began typing it and the screen made an irritating screeching before finally deciding to clear up and show a black screen saver with green folders. "All of these date from 1960 to 1969. They're all journal entries of Arnim Zola."

"Ugh, I remember him from my times as HYDRA's prisoner," Zoë said bitterly. "While posing in SHIELD to secretly parasite it with HYDRA agents, he'd also travel to compounds to do different experiments. I spotted him when he tried to 'convince' my parents into giving him the super-soldier serum. He's been trying to track me ever since I escaped until he died in 1972 from a terminal."

"Except his conscience was transferred into a computer back in Steve's old boot camp." Barnes clicked on one of the files and a document popped up, showing a picture of the human Arnim Zola sitting next to the computer. "' _December 13th, 1660. It is almost a year since Erskine's granddaughter has escaped from HYDRA and we are all not resting until we can get our hands on her family's super soldier serum formula. Along with that, I also have to deal with creating the words to control the Winter Soldier's conscience._

 _"'It was during my pursuit of Erskine that I landed in Florida and stumbled upon this abandoned airport occupied by fictional monsters and discovered something truly amazing! An organization far more secretive than SHIELD, a shadow feeding off human fear to protect immortals by hiding them in the dark, keeping their existence a secret to those who don't host them.'"_

 _"'May 1962. With my work at HYDRA and unlocking the secrets of the organization, I have a lot on me. Whoever abandoned this station was very cautious as to ensure that nothing could easily encrypt the data by translating their very ancient texts.'"_

 _"'June 1964. As my health is declining, I must inform that learning about the existence of the Gods And Men Association has made me travel around the world to locate them without HYDRA knowing. Sadly, while my discovery of this base was out of dumb luck, the others were very well hidden._

 _"'Fortune came to me, however, when I just dug out an ancient tablet hidden in an abandoned vault of the Pharaohs Intervention, the Egyptian secret society. I still have yet to unlock its secrets, but the tablet has a depiction of the mummification god Anubis.'"_

 _"'September 1966. Everything we know about mythology is a lie. The plagues were never the work of God, but_ _ **a god**_ _. While it shocked me to learn that a god of Egypt used an artifact called the Eye of Ra to kill his Egyptian worshippers just to free Hebrews, it was also inspiring. I came to the conclusion that I was looking for to HYDRA's desired order: to ensure the benefit of many and put us in power, many more would have to be sacrificed to ensure balance. If thousands or millions must go under HYDRA's order, than millions or thousands must be sacrificed to tighten security. Anubis' plagues to Egypt was a blessing to HYDRA.'"_

 _"'November 1968. Thanks to the history of the tablet, I have begun to create an algorithm that would help HYDRA narrow down its possible antagonists to its new order and eliminate them. I took that inspiration from Anubis' tenth plague of Egypt, the...'"_

"OK, we get it!" Bonnie snapped. "Apparently Seth isn't the only one who took interest in Anubis' creation!"

"That's not the issue here, Bonnie," Zoë said. "If Zola was here and used the concept of the plagues as inspiration to eliminate HYDRA's foes, who knows what else he found out and if he ratted the information to HYDRA? Who knows if like SHIELD, HYDRA infected GAMA?"

"That would be unlikely." Barnes read the last document. " _January 1970. HYDRA is beginning to question my 'disappearances', so I must leave this facility and never return. What I learned throughout all these years and through the tablet have brought me to realize that I do not need to reveal the secret of the divine immigration organization to the world. HYDRA barely needs to lift a finger._

 _"'Why would I not oppose these organizations like GAMA and PI or the many others? It is quite simple. HYDRA's belief is that man is not ready to have his own freedom, and the organizations believe that mankind is not ready to accept the existence of immortals and will most likely attack to persecute. The immortals are forced by the agencies who protect them to live in the shadows and play along with the doctrines of democracies and republics while other agencies use totalitarian discipline to put their immortals under their fingers. Some agencies even go as far as to stage 'accidents' so that mortals die and become forgotten to the world while actually resurrecting them and forcing them into the agencies. The Scandinavian League is quite notorious: led by Norwegian Fates, they stage accidents that kill young girls at a very young age. They die, the world mourns and eventually forgets them, while they actually wake to find themselves forcibly trained to become agents and are forced to live with the immortal partners who willingly adopt them._

 _"'As the organizations abuse their agents on the inside, they unwittingly raise suspicion and fear on the outside, causing civilians to become frightened of what could hit them anytime and thus getting closer to begging for security in exchange for freedom. The organizations are the added fuel that HYDRA could use to torch up the world and rid it off its freedom. Therefore, it is best to leave the divine immigration organizations as they are. They will keep damaging the world and HYDRA will reign supreme on the damage they cause. And if HYDRA loses, I give the immortals the remains of the world as a thank you.'_ "

"Shit, Zola's smarter than I anticipated!" Zoë cussed. "He chose to not tell HYDRA about our existence because he figured that with the mysteries we hide, the mortals would be more terrified and could easily fall to HYDRA's false promises of safety."

"Agents distancing from their families, erasing memories and quickly fixing damaged areas so that we don't get attention, and naturally the way some agencies 'initiate' their mortal agents," Bonnie added.

"Did you know about the Scandinavian League's treatment on mortal agents?" Barnes asked while Zoë pulled out a USB key and began to download Zola's journal files.

"We _all_ know how each agency treats its agents," she said. "We just mind our own business." Zoë succeeded in downloading the files and grabbed the USB key. "Hurry up. We got to get to Norway."

 _Back at the Nine Worlds Club_

"OUT OF MY CLUB!" Bacchus lashed his arms out and grape vines began to charge at Louse, but even with her back turned and her eyes focused at hitting Romanoff, the Third Plague managed to summon a vibranium blade to grow out of her spine and chop down the vines. While these three were busy fighting, Anubis, Maui, and Kory were busy observing from a safe spot in the blue floor.

"Apparently Louse is vulnerable to heat," Anubis said. "We just need to use something very hot to give her a burn."

"Can't you just use your necklace?" Maui asked.

"Really, Maui? A massive heat rise in Norway?" Kory said. "We'd attract the NU!"

"I got it! The sauna on the Muspelheim floor! If we can lure Louse in it, we can lock her in and raise up the heat to extreme, weakening her."

"And the coals in the sauna are made from actually Muspelheim rocks, we'd be roasting the place down!" Kory hissed.

"We'll just end up erasing this from mortals' memories!" Anubis snapped. "Let's just do it!"

Romanoff kept dodging Louse's attacks or tried to strike back with her fists and kicks. Louse kept snickering under her armor, taking much delight in the conflict. Bacchus tried trapping the plague in a cage of vines, but she just spun and sawed them off like a metal slicing tornado. Then, as if she got tired of the wine god distracting her, Louse turned to strike him with a vibranium slash. Romanoff jumped in and trapped Louse in a headlock.

"Give up yet?" Romanoff asked.

" **Are you**?" The unexpected came as the Third Plague sank her teeth into Romanoff's arm. The Russian mortal screamed in pain: the bite only went through a centimeter of her skin, but it still ached as if it impaled her bones.

"Romanoff!" Anubis whistled at Louse. "Hey! Why don't you fight somehow of your own divinity?"

Louse flung Romanoff off her back. Bacchus did a belly slide so that the Black Widow could land on his back in a flop. Louse crawled her way up the walls as Anubis turned into a jackal and ran into the Muspelheim floor. The moment he had Louse on the red floor, he turned back into his human form and blocked her attack with his ankh spear.

"You are a coward!" He told the plague.

" **I am no coward. I am merely the first among the Mighty Seth's first three plagues to be intelligent,** " Louse said.

"Amphibian was more of a loudmouth than you were," Anubis pointed out. He backed away progressively towards the wooden door behind him as Louse kept pushing forward.

" **The plagues were fashioned to plague the Avengers as they are. Nile is the poison that Captain America is to his enemies and the pro-Sokovia Accords. Amphibian is the soul-approaching reason to Vision's problematic reasoning. I am the lethal parasite that now crawls deep in Romanoff's mind, tormenting her dark past to turn her future into an infinite abyss.**

" **You call me a coward, Lord Anubis, but who are the real cowards here? Even if you 'save the world' and stop my master, the humans would never accept the mummification god as their savior and would prefer locking you up than praising you. You fight for what is right but you do it for those who exploit immortal talents and abuse mortal trust. The Mighty Seth promises a world where immortals can be fully accepted and mortals can fully trust.** "

"You forgot the power of third parties, Mega Lice!" Kory jumped in and kicked Louse from behind. Anubis moved out of the way and Maui jumped in to open the door, causing Louse to tumble right into the sauna. Maui shut the door close and Kory punched it with her two fists, creating ice that covered the wood and rendered it rock solid.

"Time to bring up the heat!" Maui rushed to the control panel and turned the switch up from 'Regular Cool' to 'Burning Ragnarok'. "Let's get out of here! The place is gonna blow!"

They wasted no moment. Bacchus carried Romanoff and they all ran as fast as they could towards the exit and into the open world. As soon as they crossed the street, the building exploded, creating a bright yellow flame show the size of the local church. Many pedestrians were frightened, but others took the opportunity to grab their phones and take videos.

"Uh? I thought it would be bigger," Bacchus commented. Just then, another explosion came, this time as big as Big Ben, and toned down, turning the building into a literal nothing. All that was left was the equivalent of a burned down junkyard.

"So, remind me again why you guys put **MUSPELHEIM COALS** in a **SAUNA**!" Anubis shouted at Bacchus and Kory. Before they could say anything, a screeching sound of sirens and flashing red and blue lights interrupted them. "Great! Here come the cops!"

"Worse!" Kory yelped in a frightened tune. "A Northern Lights Union van from the Nimrod Division!"

A manhole popped open and a geyser of blood morphed a van that punched the van down. The god and demigod grimaced as they witnessed a female agent trying to get her partner out from the crushed van until the hand grabbed the agent and dragged her screaming into the manhole.

"SHIT!" Bacchus exclaimed.

"Louse and Nile really make an insane duo! First, they succeeded in getting Amphibian back and now they took the opportunity to both harm Natasha _and_ grab a divine immigration organization agent to turn into a host!" Anubis said.

"C'mon, the agent under the van might need help!" Maui and Anubis ran to the van. The agent was groaning in pain under the pressure, but she was still alive. Maui put his hands under the van and grunted as he lifted it and raised it up like some macho circus man. Many witnesses took photos while gushing and Anubis pulled out the agent who had fallen unconscious.

"We need to take Romanoff and the agent to a hospital. The latter probably has many crushed bones and who knows if Romanoff got poisoned." Anubis told the other immortals.

"Or, we put the agent in a motel bed next to several bottles of Asgardian mead, we leave her there, and she wakes up thinking that she got intoxicated and broke her bones from too much energy!" Kory suggested smugly.

"Kory, I know that for some reason you hate the NU but..." Anubis' words got cut off when a ring of blue appeared in the ground, trapping them into a black hole that they fell in.


	12. The Daughter of Loki

Chapter 12: The Daughter of Loki

While Anubis and the demigods were being sent in a wormhole, Seth triumphantly pinched the nose of the NU agent that Nile had covered for him. The agent had no time to react as darkness and red hieroglyphics covered her until it dissolved, turning her into a blue humanoid with crystalized eyes and dragonfly wings.

"Hello, Yatir, the Fourth Plague," the god greeted as he let go of his new minion. "How would you like to go on a double mission for me?"

" **Gladly.** " After some briefing on her missions, she flew out of the dark throneroom just before Nile, Amphibian, and a recovering Louse came in. Seth gave them an ugly scowl through his scarred skin.

"Normally, I would decapitate anyone who makes me cross, but since you three have repeatedly found success in bringing me hosts, breaking your designated Avengers, and working together to find victory in the battles of our raging war, I shall show some mercy," Seth said.

" **Mighty Seth, if we may, your plagues are getting confused** ," Amphibian said while he and his comrades knelt before their master. " **Ever since you created Louse and now Yatir, you seem more concerned about the plague pinpoints than about collecting Anubis for the Eye of Ra.** "

Seth gave Amphibian a small glare before turning to look at a wall. It used to be golden, but Seth's return has turned it darker than coal and its carvings, though intact in context, glowed in ominous white worm lines. He still kept staring at one of the carvings, this one in particular showing the young Anubis standing next to Queen Isis while Osiris and his son Horus were being praised by the Rapharions.

"Tell me my plagues, do you know why I kept killing my dear Nephtys' unborn children until I killed her after she stayed away from me and left her child to my brother and her sister?"

" **As far as it has been told in Wakanda, you murdered your children ever since your brother chose to mock you by raping your wife during one of her visits** ," Louse said firmly.

"Ha! They were never _my_ children!" Seth plunged his nails into Osiris' face and scratched them down on the ruined gold, scarring it. "As if being imprisoned wasn't enough, Osiris took advantage of my incapacities by harming _my_ Nephtys! All the infants I killed were the ones he implanted on her, so I killed them all. He had to stop though when Isis was expecting Horus and Nephtys was coincidentally expecting my _only_ child." After giving Osiris' face some infernal scratching, he sighed and turned to look at the carving of Anubis, placing his hand on his face. A smirk came on Seth's lips. "To think that for the selection of guardianship of the Eye of Ra, it was _my own flesh and blood_ who brought shame to Osiris by becoming the Chosen One and his spiriting away granted me to bring my brother to his deserved fall! It has come to me that the best way for me to get permanent with the Eye of Ra is to have Anubis _share_ it with me willingly. Sooner or later, he will become pressured by the expectations of the greedy and unjust mortals outside and will go back to his roots. With me." He waved his hand at the sarcophagus that rested by the throne. On the ground next to the sarcophagus laid the unconscious body of Sharon Carter, whose breathing was decreasing as her body was wrapped in glowing bandages that connected to the sarcophagus and seemingly transmitted energy from her to the sarcophagus. "And until I can get Anubis and the Eye, I'll use this mortal's life essence to bring back to life Nephtys, and once I have built my new empire, I shall be the lead Pharaoh, with my Queen Nephtys and heir Anubis at my side!"

" **Nile finds the Mighty Seth's plan infallible** ," the First Plague nodded, " **but why must the plagues torment the Avengers?** "

" **The Accords are still keeping them apart. They are clearly awaiting death when the tenth plague shall rise.** "

"Don't keep your hopes up," Seth warned. "Unlike the other Rapharions and many other gods, I have come to learn that humans are not to be underestimated. In simpler times, they easily succumbed to the fear of being punished by gods and served them without question, but as they _evolved_ they stopped seeing gods on top of the pyramid but rather... a mirror that reflects their ego. Man sees itself as the god to all men and they start challenging the rules that nature had set. Powerless people despise those with power, the governments try to control what they can't control, and the uncultured enslave and mistreat others because they aren't of the same color... With the centuries that I have passed, mortals persecute immortals because they are part of a reality they can't or just don't want to understand, and immortals hide in fear because of superstitions.

"Humanity is now filthy and the Avengers will only increase that filth. But once I get the Eye of Ra and Anubis, I'll be able to protect him from the plague that will destroy all the firstborns. All threats will be vanquished and from its carcasses will rise a new generation, one molded to fit the ancient way. Mortals will go back to subjugation and immortals will be limited."

" **And what of the demigods?** " Louse asked. " **Will they perish as well?** "

"Why the question?" Seth asked suspiciously.

" **When I bit Romanoff, I sank into her memories and I found out why your son and his mortal host were in Norway. At one point, they were told that the daughter of Loki stole the Tesseract.** "

"What?" Seth said. "The Space Stone that Thanos desires along with the Eye of Ra and the other Infinity Stones... is on Earth?"

" **Along with the Mind Stone on the Vision and the Time Stone with Dr. Strange** ," Amphibian added.

"Four of the Infinity Stones are on Earth and you didn't tell me?" Seth was now pacing the throneroom nervously. "I must find a way to get rid of the stones or banish them to the other side of the universe. That way, Thanos can continue his hunt elsewhere."

" **Why don't you use the stones yourself**?" Louse asked.

"Dumb idiot, only an insanely powerful being can control the six Infinity Stones at once!" Seth snapped. "Thanos aside, the one person whom we should keep away from any of the other stones is my offspring. Gods know what he could do to me if he finds out that the guardian of the Eye of Ra can bend the rules of reality if the stones are placed on his necklace!"

 _Meanwhile_

Anubis had never gotten the opportunity to travel through wormholes, but this time, the first time, was scary.

He couldn't see or hear Bacchus, Maui, Kory, and the NU agent the moment they fell into the wormhole. It was almost as if he got sucked in there alone. All alone inside that pit of darkness. Then, all of a sudden, he found lights glowing as he continued falling. Blue glowing lights that slithered towards the Eye of Ra and began to give Anubis a terrible feeling as if he just got torched on the inside.

 _What happened to those freaks?_

 _Where does that portal lead?_

 _My lady Norns, two Infinity Stones are now in the hands of the offspring of the two darkest gods..._

 _Is this good or bad?_

 _I'm going to get sick! Hopefully this ship will get to shore on time. Peter, dinnertime! Coming, Aunt May! Why do I have an odd foreshadowing? The best way for me to get permanent with the Eye of Ra is to have Anubis share it with me willingly._

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Something hit him on the cheek. Anubis yelped and woke up to find himself in a GAMA clinic. Marion was rubbing her right hand. "Please tell me I fainted during a Nimrod mission and I had a terrible dream about Seth trying to take over the world," he begged.

"I really don't want to lie." Marion pointed at a glass screen. Anubis lifted himself up to have a better look. His stomach almost disintegrated when he saw multiple GAMA doctors tending to Natasha's wound. The bite mark that Louse had left her was horribly darkening, Anubis almost saw the color of the mortal's bones through her injured flesh. "Sekmeth managed to remove the vibranium from the bite, but Louse left quite an infectious bite. The doctors put Natasha in a coma until they can get the bacteria out..."

"I did this..." The god muttered.

"You didn't do this," Marion shook.

"Seth now pinpointed four countries. One more and the divine immigration organizations will be at each other's throats... I never should have left the Rapharion city..." Marion hit him on the face again. "WHAT THE HELL?" He shouted.

"What the Hell? You are _unbearably_ pessimistic and disillusioned! Ever since your dad came back to the surface, you've been acting like everyone expects you to singlehandedly save the world just because you have what Seth wants!"

"Forgive me if I am trying to prove that I am not his child!" Anubis snapped. "And what else can I do since I can't kill Seth since we're related nor imprison him because only Osiris could? Just sit down and watch the morning news? 'Today's Forecast: End Of The World and Anubis Does Nothing'." Anubis got up from the patient bed. "If I don't do anything, Seth will just wait until I crack or lure me with bait so that I will do something. If I do anything, he'll just find a new plague and we are closer to doom! I'm the f****** god of mummification who is trying to avoid wrapping the next global mummies!" He groaned, not just because he was frustrated but also because his waist was bandaged and he had fat pain in certain areas. Marion grabbed him by the arms, stopping him from a possible fall, and helped him sit back up on the bed. She grabbed an empty glass and gave it to Anubis, who wasted no time and used the Eye of Ra to fill the cup with nectar. The divine beverage instantly cured him off his pain and he removed his bandages. Anubis didn't need to lift his eyes to notice Marion stiffly staring at his bare areas.

"How are you feeling?" She asked way too patiently.

"Emotionally, not so much. Physically speaking, better," he said. He tossed the empty glass and it landed perfectly on the farthest table.

"Anubis, what would happen if you decided to give up your necklace?" Marion asked.

"Instant dissolving," Anubis said bluntly.

"I thought that was if you didn't have your weekly dose of nectar since the Rapharions are so dependent on it."

" _All gods_ die when not consuming nectar. Demigods aren't so dependent but they must still drink it to keep their immortal parts. Mortals incinerate on the spot. But the difference is that while most of the other gods contended with regular nectar, the Rapharions relied on the nectar coming from the Eye of Ra, prolonging their lives, and the guardian has his soul tethered to the Soul Stone. Remove the bond between the jewel and the guardian and the latter is severely weakened and easier to kill when outside of the city. When Seth stole the Eye of Ra and put it on his neck, he damaged the connection from the original guardian and made sure that Osiris was in a place with no possible nectar before killing him and because of Seth's new issues, he was put in a condition where he needs to reconnect with the Eye of Ra to get permanent, but in order to do that, I must willingly give up or share the Eye with him. If I did the first, death would catch up to me since I surpassed the immortal lifespan of a thousand years."

"Great," Marion mumbled.

"Believe me, Marion, immortality is not as pretty as one would think. If I remove the Eye of Ra from my neck or if it decides to find another guardian, I'll die of the spot. If I don't, I'll be eternally immortal while everyone else dies."

"At least I'll die happy that I knew you." Marion ran a hand through his locks until she settled for scratching behind his left ear, making Anubis give out a happy jackal pout. As his head was lowered, Anubis noticed something off with the Eye of Ra and briefly pulled away from Marion. "Is something wrong?"

"Do the falcon wings' outline on the Eye of Ra look unusually blue to you or am I still suffering from a concussion?"

"No, they were like that when you and the others crash-landed in a GAMA conference room."

"The others!" Anubis got up. "Are they safe?"

"Bacchus and Maui, yes. Aaricia, Kory, and Fjordson? For the moment."

"What? Why did they drag Aaricia and her new pet in the US?"

"Anubis, Kaïra used the Space Stone to evacuate you guys from Oslo at the last minute. It's going to sound weird, but Zoë figured out Seth waited until you went somewhere to get a new plague host, so she, Bonnie, and Bucky used a 20th century teleporting module to track us to Norway. They ended up in Kory and Aaricia's house but since we were gone, they warned Aaricia that Seth would send a plague to Norway, so Aaricia gave a phone call to Kaïra."

"Kory's evil twin has a _phone_?" Anubis said in bewilderment.

"I know, right? So Aaricia called Kaïra and used the latter's weakness to convince her to evacuate Kory with you guys to America using the Tesseract. She even teleported the mansion to the US since she knew NU would come for them and Aaricia and Fjordson were given temporary asylum."

"Wait, what about Kory?"

"Aside from exploding a building, Kory did nothing evil. Tiresias and the other division leaders recognized that despite her parentage, she's innocent due to her MPD and her good custody of Aaricia. They also gave Kory temporary asylum, but because she's Loki kid and her evil personality still has the Tesseract, our boss had to put her with magic stabilizers."

"Ouch." Out of all the devices in GAMA, Anubis disliked the magic stabilizers. They were these scientific-built gadgets that could put on guard any wearer bearing magic. It did not nullify the magic, but if the wearer tried to use magic for ill-purposes, the stabilizers would electrocute them to knock some inner sense. Not lethal, but still, not very comfortable. GAMA normally used the magic stabilizers on INs about to be trialed.

"They aren't crazy about it, but they have to look appealing in case Ross finds out we have Loki's kid. At least she doesn't risk incarceration."

 _Later_

"It is primordial that the you guys stay _very_ calm," the GAMA agent who escorted the Avengers and co said before bringing them inside the conference room. Barnes was watching Zoë while the latter and Sekmeth discussed over a holographic map of the world. For some reason, Bonnie was arm-wrestling and beating Maui, Bacchus was reading a GAMA pamphlet, Aaricia was feeding Fjordson with raw seaweed and shrimps the GAMA cafeteria cooks gave her for free, and Kory was drinking a large mug of coffee. It would seem like everything was normal until...

"Kory," Thor stepped in first inside the conference room. Kory raised her head up and squealed. "Uncle Thor!"

" _Uncle Thor_?" The Avengers gasped in unison. Their jaws dropped as Kory threw her mug away and went to hug her divine uncle. Even though she was taller than most humans, she was still a good foot shorter than Thor and had to stand on the tip of her toes when she hugged him before letting go.

"What happened to your hair and eye? You look like your father but younger!" She grimaced at the sight of his eye patch.

"Hela did this during Ragnarok," Thor said.

Kory's skin seemed to whiten. Bacchus and Maui briefly lifted their heads up at the mention of Ragnarok. "So, your realm has been completely destroyed?" Bacchus asked.

"'Nuked' would probably be the most fitting term on Earth."

"Big boom." Aaricia whistled. She then asked Kory: "Your sister made quite some damage."

"Nah, only Surtur could raze down the realm. Besides, how many times do I have to remind you to not always believe what you read in those mythology books? Honestly, in all their folklore, the only thing they got right about Loki's kids is Jormugand... GAH!" Kory stuffed Fjordson into Aaricia's arms and quickly pushed the girl and the escorting agent outside. "You know what? I think your new pet could use for a swimming lesson! Have fun at the GAMA pool!" She quickly pulled the doors closed and heaved, leaving the Avengers in confusion.

"You still plan on keeping this up?" Bacchus asked smugly.

" _We_ keep this up!" Kory said. "Why do you think she and I quit NU?" She levitated towards the wine god and pointed at his nose. "You say nothing, Maui says nothing, I say nothing, we keep Aaricia safe, and we can all stay alive!"

"Kory. Panic personality," Maui warned.

"Sorry." Kory calmed down and her skin turned back to normal. "I still have my multiple personality disorder issues."

"Ooh. Traumatizing childhood experience?" Tony guessed.

"More like 'traumatizing first encounter with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'." Kory flicked her wrists and darts appeared out of nowhere. At first, everyone was confused as to why the stabilizers didn't electrocute her until they saw her throwing the darts at a picture of Loki taped on the wall. Maui and Bacchus even clapped their hands when Kory managed to successfully hit Loki's pictured eyes repeatedly.

"Got it!" Zoë zoomed out the holographic world map so that they could have a better look at it. "So after I concluded that Seth was particularly pinpointing areas in the world holding quite popular mythological history, Sekmeth and I used where he previously stroke to determine where he'll strike next! We even figured out where the tenth plague will be!"

"Where will that be?" Cap asked.

"The Straits of Gibraltar."

The demigods fell out of their chairs. "You can't be serious!" Kory exclaimed.

"Aren't the Straits of Gibraltar what ancient Mediterranean civilizations used to gain quicker sailing access to the northern lands?" Thor asked.

"On the mortal aspect," Sekmeth shrugged.

"But it's a huge deal for immortals immigrating. Before the invention of planes or teleporting modules, many immortals traveled via boats," Bonnie explained. "As the Western expansion continued and the colonies in America began, many immortals located in Mediterranean Europe used to travel through the Straits. It was like a symbol for immortals in Europe when they moved West, the same way that immigrating for immortals in Asia became symbolic when they went through Istanbul to reach the Mediterranean. I should know this. After I left my home in Ireland, I briefly lived in Spain before going on boat to immigrate to the United States."

"I used to visit Hercules in Gibraltar, but I never went to the Straits. I didn't really want to leave Europe, but since I couldn't really stick in Greece, I ended up going further north," Bacchus said. "And Maui... Dude, I still don't get why you immigrated east instead of west."

"Clearly I'm the only one who read Jules Verne," Maui said drily.

"So if Seth will unleash the tenth plague on an area symbolic for _his_ expansion," Cap said, "where will he unleash the others?"

"He already took o Egypt, the US, Wakanda, and Norway." Sekmeth pointed at the map. The glowing plague system appeared on top of it. "If our calculations are correct, we can expect the next plagues to be in the following areas: southern Africa, Middle East or Western India, Canada, Southeastern Europe, and South America. I'm quite positive that if Seth wants to aim the Southeast of Europe, he will most likely hit Athens or Istanbul."

"Wait," Kory said ominously. "Did you mention that South America, Canada, and India were possible targets?"

"Yes."

"Isn't that the areas where those bad gods were locked up?"

"Bad gods? Did Loki have a fan club?" Hawkeye snorted. Bonnie, however, took this seriously and flipped through her copy of the Themis Protocols.

"Uh, guys? Kory's right. It don't think it's a coincidence if Seth wants to target the areas where the bad gods were locked up," she said.

"Were they the same gods that got imprisoned three centuries ago?" Thor asked.

"WHICH GODS?" Falcon called out.

"No need to get me a hearing aid, they're just gods ten times worse than my father," Kory said rubbing her ears.

"I'm afraid my niece is right," Thor said. "These three gods are far more worse than my brother. You see, they survive on the one thing gods and goddesses vowed to never commit out of dignity. _Feasting on human flesh_."

A very dreadful silence came from the Avengers. "F... Feasting on human flesh?" Wanda stammered.

" _History on human sacrifices is enormous,_ " Vision said. " _Many seemed to have done it that it was only once a soul was sacrificed that a god's anger would be toned down and the human flesh could become a sacrifice._ "

"Yeah, but many gods stopped relying on human sacrifices when they realized that humans mostly did it to mock them." Bacchus shuddered. "Ever heard of Tantalus? Ceres went nuts ever since Proserpine went missing and the world nearly starved, Tantalus called the gods out by killing his son and boiling him into a meat soup for the gods to eat the last time he had them over for dinner. They just had to look at it to know what the soup was made off and while the son was revived, Tantalus was sent to Tartarus."

"Unless you are a death god, feasting on human flesh is a sin for all gods," Sekmeth said distastefully. "It comes from the belief that since gods created man, wed be technically eating our own flesh. Even Anubis avoids eating too much from his canopy jars when he had to collect mummy souls."

Wanda covered her mouth to keep herself from hurling. Kory gave her the nearest urn and the Scarlet Witch found herself throwing up in it.

"Were they even death gods?" Hawkeye asked while Vision gave Wanda a comforting pat on the back.

"Not even _close_ ," Maui said and he sat upstraight in his chair. "You see, the divine immigration organizations weren't always one unique per country. As western empires expanded, so did the organizations..."

"You mean British, French, Spain, and co trying to take over the world through colonization?" Tony blurted.

"Shut up and let the guy talk," Kory said flatly. Tony scowled at her.

"As I was saying before Metal Rock Bands interrupted," Maui continued, "the first divine immigration organizations came with the main dominating empires and expanded into separate ones, one organization for every monarchy. But then the time came for revolutions and people fighting for 'republics' and 'democracy'. A great schism came and spread its roots of discord. Next thing you know, as the people and colonists revolutionized against the monarchies, the original divine immigration organizations fought against those born from the new territories."

"The Polynesian islands weren't under European protection until the late 19th century," Cap said. "I'm guessing the islands you used to live in weren't involved in the conflict?"

"Nah. But when we were warned to not go west because of its dangers, I went east and it was _mayhem_. With the chaos happening and the American Revolution, I tried to go through South America or Canada, but these places were far worse because the local most wanted bad gods found something that the warring parties and scared immortals did not take."

"A weapon?" Rhodey asked.

"An _opportunity_. To increase the fear in humans and create a massive war that would leave millions of human flesh for their consumption. And these guys didn't just feast to survive but primarily for sport."

"And they were?" Tony pressed.

"Quetzalcoatl, Kali, and Sedna," Thor said grimly. "God and goddesses of chaos, destruction, and storms. Had they succeeded, they'd be having brunch by now."

"At least they got trapped in temple prisons that got locked up with magical seals," Bonnie said.

"Yeah, but for how long?" Kory pointed out.

Just then, a blue glow glitched in the room and Anubis crashed onto the table, reducing it to bits. Blue and orange smoke came from his necklace. Vision wobbled, his hand holding his head up.

" _The pain!_ " He said sourly.

"The space... the souls..." Anubis hissed. He glared at Kory. "Ikolson."

"Sethson," she greeted.

"Don't mock me! Where's your evil personality?"

"Probably resting inside my head. Won't come out until the American dinnertime." Kory pulled out a canteen and corked it open. The mortals had to pinch their noses from the strong scent while she gulped it down.

"Asgardian mead," Anubis scoffed as he got up from the table's debris.

"Preserved since the 40s." Maui rubbed his forehead. "Leftover from Loki after their first encounter."

"Well that's some way to greet your kid," Barnes said.

"Hi! I'm Loki, and I'm your dad!" Zoë waved her hands in the air and shaped out imaginary horns. "I'd love to stay in chase, but the dumbass rules say I can't raise you. But hey, good luck living in a warring rampage!"

"WILL YOU STOP DRINKING?" Anubis grabbed the canteen and tossed it across the room. But just when he turned to face the demigoddess, she was drinking from another canteen that popped out of nowhere. The god groaned and turned to Bacchus. "Has she really been like this since the 40s?"

"Dude, you won't find a drinking partner like here," Bacchus said in an oddly approving tone. "Most demigods spend their lives either getting killed by monsters, getting killed and turned into constellations, or living up to their 2700 years by watching everyone die. Kory? Unless it's Kaïra getting her in a mess, she usually worries about two things: drinking and raising Aaricia."

"Four if you count trying to kill Loki or harnessing her personalities," Maui said.

"Loki... That's it!" Anubis gasped. "Kaïra probably stole the Tesseract to attack Loki"

"Can demigods kill gods?" Tony asked.

"Saturn got diced by my dad, so yeah, possible." Bacchus shrugged.

"I don't think it's also a coincidence that Kaïra used the Tesseract to bring us out of Oslo." Anubis pointed at the new blue marks he had on his necklace. "I think that the Eye of Ra took him some of the energy that went through the Tesseract wormhole. It would explain why I'm hearing things."

"Hearing things?" Thor looked concerned.

"Yeah. Before I woke up in the GAMA clinic, I thought I was hearing multiple voices in my head..."

" _You linked with me since the Soul Stone and the Mind Stone are sister stones_ ," Vision said. " _What if you inadvertently linked with the fragments of the Space Stone?_ "

"Of course!" Zoë gasped. "After linking with its sister stone, the Soul Stone must have picked up the energy the Space Stone used to create the wormhole and must have transferred what it caught into your necklace. Since you got connected with Vision and traveled via Tesseract, it means that you probably can hear located souls."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Anubis asked.

"It's bad," Sekmeth said bluntly. She walked up to Anubis. "Anubis, did Isis ever tell you why Osiris never let the Eye on your necklace?"

"Because I am related to Seth?"

"Hm, half right. But no. As you know, it takes incredible power for an individual to wield one stone, so the strength required to hold all six requires titanic control. The Infinity Stones are highly unpredictable and more uncontrollable than radiation. The Soul Stone is like the mother of all the stones: unless the others have linked with their sisters or if the wearer has exceptional control, the stone won't rest until it reunites with the unstable stones it has located. Plain version would be that _you_ could be unwillingly forced by the Soul Stone to find the stones and accept it on you."

Anubis was petrified. "But... I'm a god. Can't I resist?"

"Sekmeth may be right, Anubis," Thor said. "The Infinity Stones have their own consciences. The Aether held the Reality Stone and it was capable of draining the life force of its hosts _willingly_. The Soul Stone can give or take souls, but who knows if it can also _control_ souls?"

"OK, I did not see that coming." Anubis gulped. "Why wasn't I warned sooner?"

"Well..." Sekmeth sighed. "Osiris feared that if you learned about any of this, you'd end up gaining perfect control on the Infinity Stones and would probably use it to attack the other Rapharions. Also, lack of control leaves a weak host with infinite powers but who can easily be brainwashed..." She chuckled nervously.

"Osiris could have used him as a puppet." Barnes put a strong hand on Anubis' shoulder. "At least your uncle is dead."

"Thanks," Anubis said grimly. "Now I know how Loki felt."

"Can't you just remove the stones if you don't want their powers?" Wanda asked.

"If it had been any of the other stones, you could easily pluck them out of whatever was holding them," Sekmeth said, "but the Soul Stone is like a glue. Once the stones become assembled, the Soul Stone makes sure their link to their holding artifact is permanent. The only way to break it is to remove the Soul Stone..." She looked at Anubis sadly. "But as you are no longer in the Rapharion City and the Eye's guardian, it's tethered to your soul. If you try to willingly separate yourself from it, your years will catch up and you will die on the spot."

"Great." Anubis pinched himself on the nose. "What could be worse?"

"Gee, maybe Kaïra could turn you into her puppet and have you kill Loki for her," Kory said sarcastically. She got up and made her way for the door.

"Where are you going?" Anubis exclaimed.

"Taking Aaricia back to my mansion. Unlike you, I have a mortal to take care of," she said flatly.

"Oh, sure! Crawl behind your mortal host and leave us hanging with your evil personality!"

Metal spikes emerged from the walls and froze just before they nearly hit the tip of the mummification god's nose. "Bravo, Canine Man. Kaïra heard you from my tri-conscious and she got pissed in her nap. And for the record, your pity party doesn't work on me. You might have won on everyone for making them sorry of your abusive childhood, but these people never experienced Seth. Loki? He sends the Destroyer and he tries to take over Earth or Asgard or even decimate his own species." Her skin then got blue and her eyes burning red, making the others cringe. "I'm almost a hundred years old! My mother's gone and my father Loki abandoned me because his _precious_ father Odin wouldn't want one of his princes to have a half-mortal as an heir! Asgard didn't want me because I'm half human! Jotunheim didn't want me because I wasn't a full Frost Giant, and I hardly doubt that any mortal would want a daughter of Loki on their hall of heroes! Do you honestly think that it would make any difference if you save the world?" The doors opened and Kory looked one more time at Anubis before the doors closed. "If Seth doesn't rip the Eye of Ra off you, you know they will."

They stood silent for five good minutes. Anubis then let himself slip to the floor.

"Charming lady," Rhodey remarked sarcastically.

"We'll go talk to Kory." Maui got up.

"Don't worry, Anubis," Bacchus told the emotionally shattered god. "Kory can get rather snappy when she's under pressure, but I'm sure that she'll cool off."

"I can only imagine her pressure," Cap said. "Multiple personality disorder and Loki's kid? Who on earth was her mother?"

"Some Norwegian merchant. I mean, Kory had a fine life and she and her mother managed to survive the Great Depression, but in one day, Kory lost her mother when HYDRA attacked Tønsberg for the Tesseract and she met Loki. Trauma, the beginning of her condition, and no more aging all in one day."

"Why wouldn't Odin want demigods on Asgard?" Tony turned to Thor.

"It's not just in Asgard." Sekmeth shook her head. "Just like human flesh feasting, it is forbidden for gods to raise their half-divine children. Unless they did some kind of heroic sacrifice that resulted with rewarded immortality, demigods also can't put their foot in their parents' homeland."

"OK, it doesn't happen to everyone." Bacchus raised his hand. "My stepmother Juno tried to have me dissected but my Titan grandmother resurrected me, so I technically didn't become a god by doing a heroic sacrifice. But Sekmeth's right. Until I became a god, I was forbidden to put my foot in Mt Olympus. Conclusion, divine law forbade Kory from going to Asgard. So there's that."

"Don't forget her trauma from working at NU!" Maui pointed out."

"Is it true that the Norns have mortal girls killed and then forcibly initiated into NU?" Barnes asked bluntly. The others looked at him like it was some sick joke.

"Do they _ever_!" Maui exclaimed. "The Scandinavian League is probably the sickest system in all the divine immigration organizations. It's like most of the organizations that were originally loyalists to the monarchies and they force certain immortals to work for them as 'punishment' for whatever bad deed they did. Most of the immortals are unwanted demigods or INs."

"Kory mentioned that Nu forced her to join after Kaïra tried to take over Norway." Anubis got up from his broken state. "She didn't exactly say why, but the Norn leader of NU let her and Aaricia resign."

"God, Aaricia." Bacchus shook his head.

"How did Aaricia get forced into the Norwegian organization?" Thor asked.

"Staged incident. That's how twisted the Norns are," Maui said. "They have this thing of trying to find mortals who happen to be godly descendants. They find them, have agents stage accidents that get the girls killed and forgotten in the real world while they end up revived, adopted by immortals who care for them, trained, and in the end go on a suicidal mission to get their claim. Big plan to make the next generation of Valkyries.

"Kory told us that Aaricia was from the same American town as Anubis' mortal host. When the kid was eight, her parents took her on a family trip to Norway because the kiddo always wanted to see the aurora borealis illuminating the fjords at night. They boarded on this train... and..." He sighed.

"The NU agents jammed the wagons," Barnes guessed solemnly. "The kid got accidently stranded and the agents took the opportunity to drag the wagon she was in into a ravine and she died."

Many of the male Avengers lowered their heads in shame. Wanda looked like she wanted to sob.

"A death similar to your apparent one," Anubis said. "HYDRA brought you back to life as the Winter Soldier..."

"And NU brought Aaricia back to life," Maui said. "For six months straight, Aaricia was stuck in the Grey House, the Norns' personal Pennhurst for orphaned mortal girls. She got stuck with girls from 8 to 18 living in cells and hoping desperately that they wouldn't be adopted by an abusive immortal. Aaricia usually hid in the bathrooms to avoid being taken. Imagine being in her place, a kid who just came back from the dead and could end up living her remaining half-dead life with a guardian who could hit her regardless of her age..."

"Time out." Falcon interrupted. "We are talking about the blonde girl who just left this room with a seahorse in her arms? But she hardly looks like a kid who got beaten!"

"Because Kory wouldn't dare. Our friend used to be a clerk at the Grey House, filing up in alphabetical order the mortal initiate dossiers. She caught sight of the frightened kid and wanted to adopt her on the spot, but she feared rejection due to being an offspring of Loki."

"Dude, it took us months of pep talk until we snapped it into her!" Bacchus snapped his fingers. "Next thing you know, Aaricia gets a comfortable home with an adoptive sister who goes out of her length to take care of her very well, and hey, you also get Uncles Maui and Bacchus!"

"Gee, I can imagine how Saturday nights work for you," Anubis said sarcastically.

"Naturally, the NU put Kory and Aaricia into the Nimrod Division, but Kory quickly caught up that the Norns were just putting Aaricia under a training phase. Kaïra then freaked out in Kory's head when she found out that the Norns planned on sending Aaricia on her destined suicidal mission and cared less if she ended up dead like the others before her. For someone with MPD like Kory, she knew that she had it and flat-out told her Norn leader that she and Aaricia were resigning."

"They can just let you resign like that?" Rhodey asked.

"Along with the warning of 'destiny will catch on'," Maui said. "So as you can see, Kory may not really care of other people's problems, but she deeply cares about Aaricia."

"Does Aaricia know that Kory resigned them because of the..." Anubis began. Bacchus cut him off.

" _You_ say nothing about it! Maui and I already promised to Kory on the River Styx that _we_ would not tell a thing to Aaricia!"

"And why shouldn't I?"

"Because one wrong slip and Kaïra reacts." Bacchus tapped on the wall spikes that came earlier. "And believe me, when it comes to protecting the kid, Kaïra at her most dangerous."


	13. The Child Of My Enemy Is My Friend

Chapter 13: The Child of My Enemy is My Friend

Ironically speaking, it was pouring in Washington DC when Kory left the GAMA headquarters with Aaricia and Fjordson. The moment she saw the rain, Aaricia thought it was the perfect opportunity to take Fjordson swimming in the tiny lake of the Constitution Gardens since most people would be indoors. Kory merely chuckled and half an hour later, she was sitting on a bench and willingly letting herself get soaked while she watched Aaricia and the latter's pet water horse splashing in the water. She grinned and imagined Aaricia riding an adult Fjordson, probably travelling through all the seas...

She shook her head. She almost thought about the suicidal destiny the Norns had in mind for Aaricia. She didn't want to be reminded that the main reason she was free of her NU career was because she wanted Aaricia out of the agency's selfish purposes. She'd keep Aaricia safe and live a life away from the dreadful fate.

The raindrops began to stop hitting her head. She looked up and found herself blushing. Captain America was using his shield as an umbrella.

"Such the gentleman." She pointed at the shield and caused it to glow. When Cap let go, the shield kept floating on top of their heads as he sat down next to her. "How did you know where to find me?"

"GAMA has eyes everywhere in the US. The leader of the Nimrod Division privately told me where you were, but I never expected it to be in the Constitution Gardens."

" _Privately_ asked?" Kory blinked. "The other Avengers and Anubis don't know you're here?"

"No. I wanted to talk to you alone."

Kory's green eyes glimmered. She looked away to hide her chuckle and increasing blush. "What? Is it because Captain America wants to talk to Loki's daughter?" He asked, unable to hide one of his own smirks.

"Not even close. But still..." An eight point five by eleven poster appeared on her right hand. Cap blinked and gasped. It was one of the World War II posters of the Captain America tour right before it got cancelled. "I've preserved it since the 40s. Try to live and save an autograph for me."

" _You_ watched the tour?" Cap said in disbelief.

"What? FYI, I'm as old as you. You don't think that I bothered to watch the newsreels on the Star Spangled Banner Man from when he was on stage to when he became the war hero..." She sighed and looked at the poster in her hands before handing it to Cap. "The sole comfort I had in the 20th century ever since I stopped aging: knowing that there are genuinely good people in the crapped up world I live in and they are different from society."

"I'm sorry about your mother's loss," he said genuinely.

"I know. You lost yours during the Depression and never met your father." Kory nodded. "The days when I wish I never met mine."

"Your friends explained to us why Loki wouldn't take you to Asgard. I can't even believe that even when he tried to take over Earth..."

"That he wouldn't welcome me with open arms? Offer me to become princess while he'd be king and we'd rule the world? That we could fix our relationship?" Kory scowled. "Been there, done that. Ever since he started constantly visiting me in this century, I keep screaming at him and throwing him out of my house."

"That's..."

"Sixty years too late. Six decades and he never bothered to come back to apologize or comfort me or offer me a family. It's only when _he_ finds out that he happens to not be an Asgardian but an adopted Frost Giant that he changes his mind on me." Kory clenched her fists. Cap noticed that her knuckles briefly turned blue until Kory caught herself, took a deep breath, and the blue disappeared. "My apologies. I tend to turn into my half Jotunheim roots when I get frustrated. Makes my skin blue."

"Like a blue Hulk," Cap joked.

"Except with more ice and less gamma." Her attention briefly turned to Aaricia, who was on the other side of the lake and busy catching up after Fjordson, who for some reason decided to go after Canadian geese. The usually aggressive birds were afraid of the baby water horse and tried to fly away as fast as they could.

"Bacchus and Maui told us about the Grey House," Cap said. "I can't exactly picture a cheerful kid like Aaricia being locked up in an organization's asylum."

"None of the girls are cheerful at the Grey House. I should know, I've been a clerk there."

"So we've been told."

"It was a nightmare. For forty years at the most, I had to watch mortal girls get dragged into the building, dead from countless imaginable deaths. Car accidents. Terrorist attacks. War rampages. poisoned drinks. Mistletoe arrows. Burning homes and genocide. And it doesn't help that I was a witness of World War II and its horrors."

"The Holocaust," Steve guessed.

"My mother _was_ a merchant and a Jewish, so even though HYDRA no longer operated in the name of Germany, my mother was still killed by Nazi-turned-HYDRA soldiers. When the remaining Jews of my hometown were rallied in a dead end, Nazis tried to shoot us. I survived the eight bullets that were aimed at my heart, and when they saw that I lived, they tried multiple attempts to kill me. They tried burning me, beheading me, and tried to throw me into a frozen lake after chaining me head to toe. In each attempt, I survived and they thought I was a witch." She snorted. "Then they ran in terror when I emerged from the lake after my Jotunheim heritage kicked in. And the ironic part? It took Loki all of his life but me just one war to realize that my divine was... well... not the Asgardian he thought he was."

"It must have been hard for you afterwards."

"You'd be surprised, but blending in with mortals is easier. However, trying to avoid NU's attention is _way_ harder than being a Holocaust survivor. Working for them was annoying but their plans for Aaricia? I've had it."

"Doesn't she miss her parents?" Steve asked.

"Captain America, I am shocked! Are you saying I'm a terrible guardian due to my near death experiences?"

"Of course not. But Aaricia... It almost seems like what happened to me after I froze into the ice. She dies, believing she'll never see her friends and family again, only to wake up in a strange place where people plan to use her. She makes friends and a new family, but at the same time, she might miss her old life."

Kory sighed. "I know. I knew it ever since I first brought her into my home: I can never substitute her parents."

 _Kory's mansion back in Tønsberg, eight years ago_

Kory unlocked the front door of her mansion and stepped inside to get away from the hail night outside. She unbuttoned her cloak, revealing a small, eight-year-old blonde girl holding onto her waist. The child wouldn't let go of her ever since Kory took her from the Grey House. Instant trust had come from the poor thing after Kory, unlike most of the immortal women who tried adopting her, approached her with kindness and warmly decided to carry the child in her arms.

"This is your new home, Aaricia," Kory said as she hung up her jacket. Aaricia looked nervously but curiously at the green crystal chandelier, stained glass windows, and two wooden carpeted staircases. "I know it's not what you are used to, but I hope that you can be comfortable."

"It is prettier than the other house." Aaricia gave a small nod. She took off her shoes and put them in the corner closest to the doorway. The hailing began to tap on the window, frightening the child to go hug Kory again.

"Don't be frightened, little one." Kory took Aaricia by the hand and led her to the kitchen. Since Aaricia was still too small, Kory picked up Aaricia and placed her onto a stool. "How about a warm cup of hot chocolate and a slice of rhubarb pie before I show you to your room and tuck you in bed?"

Aaricia licked her lips, a clear begging that she wanted the food. Ever since her 'initiation', as Kory's immortal colleagues would define it, Aaricia had been forced to eat like the other 'initiated' girls: oatmeal and hot milk for breakfast, puréed green vegetables and hot water for lunch, and grounded meat and cold water for dinner. Kory had seen worse forms of hunger for mortals, but she knew what kind of child Aaricia was. She was among the many children who were always well fed and experiencing this new form of hunger was like getting a ball kicked right into your stomach.

"I don't know what kind of milk your parents gave you, so I'm using my fat free milk to make you hot chocolate." Kory snapped her fingers. A pot floated out of her cabinet and landed right onto her stove that automatically turned on while the fridge popped open and made way for the carton of milk. Another cabinet let out the chocolate, the sugar, and the marshmallows. Aaricia looked in wonder at the magic as it diced the chocolate and tossed it into the boiling milk. Kory pulled out the pie from the fridge and put it onto the counter. Aaricia practically drooled as she watched Kory cut out a slice, place it onto a plate, and sprinkle some sugar on top of it before placing the plate and a small fork before the young child. Aaricia immediately grabbed the fork and began to devour the slice.

"Slow down! You'll get a tummy ache if you eat to fast!" Kory warned.

"Sorry. It's a very delicious pie. Thank you," Aaricia said. The hot cocoa was ready and Kory poured it into a mug. Despite it's insane hotness, the drink didn't last long as Aaricia drank it. Drinking hot liquids back in the Grey House got her used to drinking the stuff fast. Normally, any child would be crying if their tongues got burned off from the heat.

"We'll have to do some shopping tomorrow since I wasn't quite expecting you in my house," Kory said while Aaricia finished eating and drinking. "We'll get food, clothes, and supplies. I'll tutor you, so I need to get you some textbooks to learn."

"I can't go to school?" Aaricia asked.

"I'm afraid not. You died on Norwegian grounds and your fatal accident was in the newspapers. If you went to school, they might realize that you survived the incident, report to the police, and NU would be discovered. But don't worry. Wait some years and you can go make friends of your age. By then, people will have forgotten."

"I hope Daddy and Mommy don't forget me." Aaricia's blue eyes began to water.

"They won't." Kory shook her head. "Just because they think you're dead doesn't mean that they won't stop remembering you. I should know..." Kory turned to look at a framed picture near the door leading to the backyard. Aaricia followed her stare and noticed the black-and-white picture of a dark haired woman holding onto a smiling, younger Kory. "My mother died many years ago. I can never forget her."

"What about your daddy?" Aaricia asked innocently.

"He didn't care about us. He left my mother before I was born and he didn't help me after a building crushed her."

"Daddies aren't supposed to be mean." Aaricia jumped off her stool and walked over to the wall in order to have a better look at the picture. "My daddy is always nice. He took me to school, he taught me how to ride a bike and play soccer, he helped me make Mommy's favorite cherry pie for Mother's day, and he had this superpower where he could tell when I have bad dreams and hugs me and tells me that everything's going to be OK."

"Your daddy was special." Kory nodded. "But mine wasn't as nice as yours. He's... different. A bad different. He was a god. Gods don't care for their demigod children. Only mortal parents love their demigod children."

"I guess the mean ladies from the Grey House were raised by their godparent. They're nasty. You're so nice. They keep yelling at me and giving me bad food because I'm different."

 _Present_

 _Because I'm different._

 _Because I'm different._

A snap of fingers brought Kory back to reality. "Uh?"

"Well look who's back from her flashback personality," Aaricia said with a big grin. "Since we're in DC, why don't we all go to Georgetown?"

 _Meanwhile, in GAMA_

Zoë typed on a computer and pulled out three images on holographic displays for them to see. Each image related to the three 'bad gods' that they had discussed about. One male and two female. The images were ancient illustrations, but the physical details were rather forward. The male wore a golden body armor with Aztec carvings, his eyes were red, he had hints of scales on his seemingly human body, and instead of hair, he had four large feathers merging from his head and shaped in curves, making him look like a male Medusa with live feathers instead of snakes. The first female had skin as dark as volcanic rocks with silver grey hair reaching her waist, had four arms, and wore nothing but human bone clothing tainted in blood (a fifty human skull necklace, a skirt made of arm bones, and countless bracelets and leg cuffs made of ribs). The second female and the last god on the list looked the least menacing. Her tanned skin was pleasant to look at, her tangled hair looked like ocean waves, and she wore an Inuit gown made of sunken pearls, seashells, and jewels shaped like whales, walruses, and other marine life. The only thing distasteful about her looks was that from her elbows to her fingers, her forearms and hands were made of metal.

"I thought they'd be more terrifying," Marion said flatly.

"You never went through the GAMA library, did you?" Zoë asked drily.

"I'm not the one in the Science Division, Hazelfields," Marion shrugged.

Zoë cussed something in German.

"Quetzalcoatl, Kali, and..." Anubis shuddered at the last name, "...Sedna." Marion gave him a suspicious look.

"So these are the guys that Seth wants to hire for his dream team of evil?" Tony asked.

"They're bad enough as a trio, Stark. I don't need a quartet," Anubis said bitterly. "Zoë, do the files say how the divine immigration organizations managed to lock them up?"

"Last I checked, it involves elemental barriers, a key locked _inside_ their cells, or the quickest way to free them would be more lethal," she said.

"Human sacrifice?" Anubis guessed bitterly. "Go figure."

"What are elemental barriers?" Rhodey asked. "It sounds like some kind of Last Airbender thing."

"Most divinities are born with a connection to natural elements, which may impact their powers or get transferred into their legacy," Thor explained. "Take Kory and her friends. Maui is a Polynesian demigod of the sea, so he has water capacities. Bacchus as the wine can summon grape vines so he has a connection to the earth. As for my niece, her parentage gave her wind and ice powers. The colder the air is around her, the sharper and stronger her ice becomes. With specific elemental powers, they can survive harsh environments that suit them but at the same time become vulnerable to the elemental opposites."

"Or with the bad trio here," Bonnie flipped through her THEMIS PROTOCOLS book. "Quetzalcoatl was a wind god, Kali a goddess of burning earth, and Sedna a sea goddess. Put them in the following prisons and they are incapable of escape: a vibranium prison, an antigravity bubble, and a burning furnace. They also weaken them of their powers. As for the keys, they are hidden inside their prisons but they can only unlock the jails from the outside by someone _from_ the outside."

"Damn clever," Tony said. "What now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Anubis asked. "We send parties to the three areas, prevent Seth from causing a breakout or getting new hosts."

"Yeah, that's smart, but here's the catch." Marion poked Anubis' nose. "You're like a black sheep in the middle of a white flock. Unless you're in my hometown, Seth can track you anywhere and will attack if you happen to be with an Avenger that fits his newest plague."

"Then why don't you just send a non-Avenger to the sites?" Scott said randomly. "Cap said that Seth only seems to be interested in targeting _official_ Avengers. Barnes, Panther, the spider kid, and I aren't Avengers, Maui and Bacchus aren't agents of no organizations and Kory and her mortal quit. Why don't we set up parties consisting of one demigod and one non-Avenger to go secure the locations and make sure that the ad gods stay locked up. And whichever non-Avenger lands without a demigod will team up with Anubis to create a diversion. If Seth gets too busy sending his plagues to fetch Anubis, that will leave us more time to secure the prisons."

"This by far the most random plan I've ever heard off," Zoë said, "It actually has logic procedures!"

"Way to go, Tic Tac!" Falcon shared a high-five with Scott.

"We don't break any border law, we don't endanger an Avenger's life..." Zoë said. Anubis cleared his throat and pointed at the direction of the infirmary. "Oh, sorry."

"Is Black Widow getting any better?" Thor asked.

"Louse had some serious stuff in her bite," Bonnie said. "The doctors tested and they concluded that while she will live, Natasha needs to be placed in a two-day coma to get rid of the hallucinatory venom the plague used to bite on her."

"Will they be as bad as the hallucinations I once gave her?" Wanda referred to the time she had used her Mind Stone-based powers to give the Avengers traumatic visions of the past or future. She still remembered seeing Natasha's traumatic memories of her Red Room training.

"With the Soul Stone empowering the hallucinations? It will hit her right to the soul," Anubis said.

" _I have been making equations on who could possibly become the Fourth Plague's Avenger counterpart,_ " Vision explained. " _A pattern was formed in the creation of the first three plagues. They have respectively struck us at the hardest through physical, logical, and mental obstacles. In order, Nile, Amphibian, and Louse, have struck Captain America, me, and the Black Widow. If two pro-Accords Avengers have been hit, Seth will even the odds by attacking a second anti-Accords Avenger._ "

"And the fourth plague was supposed to be flies." Anubis blinked at Falcon, whose eyes widened.

"Oh, c'mon!"

"Look on the bright side, Seth must have made the plague weaker than the other three since... well, you fly around in a bird costume with just your fists as a weapon."

"Dude, that's not cool!" Falcon almost walked forward t punch Anubis until Marion calmly pulled the adult away.

"Sorry. Anubis isn't particularly crazy about falcons since, you know, his cousin Horus is a falcon god and never stopped bullying him for centuries..." She said.

"Got it," he said firmly.

Meanwhile, Barnes kept typing on his phone. "Should I let Cap know about the plan?" He asked out loud.

"He still hasn't returned from the bathroom?" Tony looked around in shock.

"Gee, the World War II hero must have drunk a _lot_ of coffee this morning to be spending more than an hour in the little super soldier's room," Anubis said sarcastically.

 _At a restaurant in Georgetown_

"Are you sure you won't come?" Kory asked Aaricia while they peaked at the restaurant with Cap from behind a fountain.

"You know I can't. Animals aren't allowed."

Fjordson squirted water and made happy noises while Aaricia held him by a blue leash.

"There's a cat café nearby. I can just pretend he's a very hairless Persian cat," Aaricia shrugged.

"A very hairless Persian cat with _flippers_?" Kory frowned.

"Or I can hide Fjordson under my shirt, claim I'm overweight, and go to the movies." Aaricia whistled before Kory sighed and surrendered twenty dollars to Aaricia and placed a spell on Fjordson to make him look like a cat to others.

"Call me if you need anything!" Kory shouted as Aaricia rushed up the street with Fjordson. A blue mist then surrounded Kory and she appeared in a deep blue see halter dress, black heels, and her hair braided in one. A blue mist also circled Steve, turning him into a hottie in a black tuxedo, his hair gelled backward, and sunglasses over his eyes.

"I look like Tony," he remarked when he peaked at himself in the fountain.

"Great. No one will recognize you." She tucked her arm in his and walked up the stone steps to the restaurant. The host didn't recognize Cap as the fugitive he now was and led them to a table. As they sat, Cap couldn't help but notice the snake ring on Kory's finger. It looked like a serpent trying to swallow its own tail through its fanged mouth while its green scales were covered in tiny skulls.

"Did Loki give you that ring?" He asked.

Kory said nothing. After a waiter came and asked them for what kind of drinks they wanted to order, they went for a martini and solid bourbon. It was only until the waiter left that Kory answered Cap. "No. My half brother Jormugand gave it to me. It's made of Asgardian peridot."

"Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't mythology say that this child of Loki was a giant snake?" Cap asked.

"Ugh, mortal mythology! They get everything wrong! They think Loki fathered a giant wolf, a giant snake, and the Goddess of Death, and _mothered_ an eight-legged horse! The goddess wasn't even his daughter but Thor's actual older sibling, the wolf was her pet, and the horse was just a cousin species of Pegasus. But yeah, my half-brother is a giant snake that coils the world and eats his own tail. If he went loose, he could have devoured Oslo in a gulp."

The waiter came in with their drinks. They did some cheers and drank from their glasses. "He must be invisible if nobody can notice a giant snake," Cap commented.

"Not invisibility." Kory shook her head and put down her bourbon. "But his scales are like reflective panels. If he needs to, he can reflect the environment he's in and hide. Naturally, it didn't work when we met shortly after World War II. I went to the Lovatnet Lake for a recovery retreat."

"Recovery retreat?"

"Losing my mother, meeting my father, and the Nazis persecuting the Norwegian Jews deeply upset me, I decided to go to the lake for some peaceful quiet time, away from Tønsberg or any other populated town. But what I didn't expect was that Lovatnet Lake was a relaxing spot for Jormugand. He stops there once a century to take a recovery retreat as well, except for him, he's constantly ringing around the depths of the oceans so he needs to take a vacation back in the homeland. I accidentally stumbled upon him when I recognized half of Loki's odor on him."

"Judging by the fact that he gave you jewelry as a present, I guess you two hit it off."

"Oddly enough, yes. We got along due to our hatred for Loki abandoning us. The Asgardians didn't know what to think when Loki gave birth to a venomous snake the size of a Frost Giant that kept growing as it ate more flesh, so Odin banished Jormugand to become the Midgard Serpent and travel the oceans in a loop like a ring on an orb until 'divine shall set his mouth free once a century until Thor's blood pierces the beast and makes a trophy out of his venomous scales.'"

"Thor's destined to kill your brother."

"Not necessarily." The waiter came back to get their order. Cap went for steak and sautéed vegetables while Kory settled with cod fillet. "You see Rogers, when someone says 'a god's blood', it doesn't necessarily mean the blood of the _actual_ god. It can also relate to anyone who has the blood because they are related to the god."

"It fits now," Cap realized. "You didn't want Aaricia around when you nearly talked about your brother back in GAMA. Your mortal host is actual Thor's... a thousand times granddaughter?"

"Fitting, isn't it?" Kory said sarcastically. "A daughter of Loki living harmoniously with a descendant of Thor while the divine men constantly spite."

"And you're against Aaricia's fate of killing Jormugand?"

"I see Bacchus and Maui couldn't keep their mouths shut." Kory sighed and drank more bourbon.

"I mean, I guess it makes sense. You don't want your mortal to kill your brother..."

"More like I don't want my brother to kill my mortal," Kory said. "Like I said, Jormugand lets his tail out of his mouth once a century and it's always at that time of year that the Norns decide to send in a descendant of Thor among the pack of 'initiates' that were brought over from the Grey House." She scowled in displeasure. "The Norns are quite nasty. They believe that by selecting female descendants of the gods and sending them on suicidal missions that fit the legends, whoever survives will form the new order of Valkyries."

"But why is it that only Thor's legacy is supposed to kill your brother?" Cap asked.

"Have you ever read Norse Mythology? Apparently, some guy declared that any of the children of Loki would unleash Ragnarok, the destruction of all realms and the beginning of a new age for mortals with reincarnated gods. The myths declared Thor to slay Jormugand but to perish in the end from venomous exposure. The Norns got inspired by the myth and ever since they created the Scandinavian League, they sent selected female descendants of my uncle to kill Jormugand right on his recovery retreat, which for some reason _always_ comes on the chosen ones' sixteen birthday. None of the girls chosen survived."

"Did you witness the one that occurred when you first met your brother?" Cap was getting even more curious right when their dishes came and the sweet scent of meat and cooked vegetables filled their nostrils.

"I did... by accident." Kory cut through her cod. "Ever since Jormugand and I met, we got along very nicely and since he only spends a month for his recovery retreat, we decided to do regular weekend meetings until he had to go back as a giant snake ring. Most of the time it was going for a swim in the lake, playing cards, or ranting about how our father was annoying and can you believe those cruise ships that hit me?

"On my second-to-last visit at the lake, I accidentally ran into him clashing with this sixteen-year-old westerner girl. In her defense, she looked rather beat up and like she could hardly lift a heavy sword. When she spotted me, she was so surprised that she could do nothing when my brother used his tongue to drag her into his big mouth."

"He _ate_ her?" Cap nearly choked on his steak.

"And spit out her sword and bones as if he were any normal snake spitting out the egg shells of a swallowed egg! I was like 'Jor, why did you eat that kid? She hardly had any armor!' 'It's not my fault!' He protested, 'It's another one of Thor's blood that the Norns keep sending!' He then told about how _everytime_ he went to take a vacation at the lake, the Norns would send a female Thor's blood to kill him when their sixteenth birthday collided with his retreat."

"Wouldn't if have been easier if they tried killing him _while_ he still had his tail in his mouth?"

"You know, I asked him the same question and he told me that for all he cared, the Norns were sending him weak daredevils and that his recovery retreat always ends up being the one time he can get a decent meal. He also told me the _long_ list of ladies he got on each rendezvous. The latest meal, the fight I witnessed, was a Jamaican child named Gloria Kingston."

"How long has this been going?"

"Currently, fifteen hundred years. Fifteen centuries and fifteen girls killed." Kory tapped on her snake ring. "The tiny skulls you see? He wears the skulls of his victims on his scale."

"And it doesn't bother you that he ate the girls and used their heads as trophies?" Cap looked at her grimly.

"I'm more bothered by the Norns' sadistic sense of using mortals to revive myths than my brother killing to save himself. You see, Jormugand may be a monster but he is still a snake. Like many regular snakes, they prefer to eat, sleep, and coil their way around. They generally ignore men but the moment they feel aggressed or in danger, they attack. If my brother feels threatened or in danger, like when a Thor's blood comes to challenge, he feels the need to defend himself. And since snakes are so associated with Loki and evil, we as his children do feel a need for self-defense."

"So what are you going to do? Skip your meeting with Jormugand until next century?"

"I put a tablet message in the area where we usually met, explaining to him that I can't come to our usual meeting this time because my mortal is a Thor's blood that the Norns want to send to slay you, and I don't want any of you to get hurt, so we'll have to report our usual cards game to the 22nd century. I'm sure that Jormugand will understand." She sighed. "If only the Norns hadn't decided to pick Aaricia as the 21st century candidate... I won't lie. Until I found out what the Norns intended for her, I almost thought of taking her on a vacation to the Lovatnet Lake for her birthday, perhaps introduce her to my brother, they'd get along and for a whole month, we'd be playing Uno instead of the usual poker."

Right when the waiter came to collect their empty plates and ask them if whether they preferred to pay the bill or get some dessert, a buzzing ringtone came out of Kory's dress. She pulled out a blue Iphone 6 and looked darkly at it. "Keep the change," she told the waiter after tossing him a bill of 500 dollars. She grabbed Cap by the arm and dragged him out of the restaurant into the nearest alley. She turned her Facetime on. "Aaricia, what's wrong?" She asked.

" _Our setup plan didn't exactly work,_ " Aaricia said grimly. She looked like she was hugging Fjordson tightly while hiding in what seemed to be the top of a staircase. " _Kaïra didn't show up at the cat café when I was alone._ "

"She must have figured out that we'd ask her about the Tesseract," Cap said.

" _Actually, I think it's because of her._ " Aaricia rotated the screen to show a visual of the floor downstairs, where customers were socializing or playing with the place's cats. At the register booth was a dark-haired woman in a purple jacket demanding that the host let her in.

"Isn't that the NU agent that you brought back from Oslo?" Cap asked.

" _Karnilla_ ," Kory said viciously. "I knew I should have just let her rot in the street back in Norway."

"You hate her that much?"

"She has an immense ego and prejudice, kept looking down at me because I was Loki's child, and she kept trying to get Aaricia until I adopted her! Even after we quit, she still tried to put a request to get her! It's like a foster system socialite that won't shut up!" She slapped herself on the forehead. "I'm so sorry, Aaricia! I never should have let you go on your own!"

" _And Kaïra hates Karnilla as much as you do. I'm shocked she still hasn't shown up yet. Maybe she thought that if Karnilla found me with your evil personality with an Infinity Stone while we were in a foreign country, we'd be screwed."_

Just then, shouting came from the other line. Aaricia turned her head and froze her eyes in horror at whatever she was seeing. Even Fjordson was biting his flipper to having making a yelp at the sound of customers screaming, cats hissing, and a woman screaming under thousands of electric jittering.

"Aaricia, what's going on?" Cap got worried.

"Karnilla... we hardly knew ye..." Aaricia choked.

"Aaricia, don't freak out!" Kory said. "See if you can hide upstairs to avoid the conflict downstairs. Cap and I will rush as fast as we can to get you out!"

"Kory...K...K... Karnilla just got... her... magic drained. She just turned into a corpse. She... she... she's dead," Aaricia stammered.

"Was it Nile?" Cap guessed bitterly.

"Worse," Aaricia shook her head. "Mordo."


	14. Aaricia

Chapter 14: Aaricia

Aaricia managed to find a closet and carried Fjordson in there. While screams were continuing downstairs, she closed the closet door and used a technique Bacchus had shown her once to jam the doorknob so that it would make it harder to open from the other side. She and Fjordson then crawled behind the mop cart and the blonde girl covered the water horse's mouth to prevent his whimpering to be loud.

Footsteps made their slow, easy way up. They didn't dare to breathe in their closet. The steps got closer and then the door burned down. Aaricia tensed but caught herself when she realized something was off.

"Are you insane?" She got up and revealed her position. "Seriously, Kaïra, is this your idea of a bad joke?"

To answer her question, Baron Mordo changed into his true appearance, revealing a clone of Kory dressed in a venom green chainmail tunic with a black full bodysuit underneath, green golden-trimmed thigh high boots, and Jotun protective gear. The metal threads on her chainmail tunic were woven to form miniature stars of David.

"Karnilla was already on her way. I had to pass off as Mordo to dispose of her before she could get to you," Kaïra said. She held out her hand and helped Aaricia get up and out of the closet.

"And you thought it was a good move? Killing a NU agent on GAMA territory?"

Fjordson hissed at Kaïra from Aaricia's arm. Kaïra snapped her fingers and green kelp appeared in her hands. She hung it above the water horse's head and the latter couldn't resist eating it.

"Nice pet. He'll make a fine steed for you when he grows up," the evil persona commented.

"Thanks." With the danger out of way, Aaricia put Fjordson on the ground and sat on the nearest armchair. "Kaïra, the Avengers and Kory know that you stole the Tesseract from your dad."

Kaïra merely arched an eyebrow silently. She looked at her finger holding her ring and showed it to Aaricia. Like Kory, she kept her ring on the same finger of the same hand, except Kaïra's was blue and Kory's green. The new difference that Aaricia noted was that Kaïra's ring no longer looked like its twin. Now it looked like the snake was coiling its way to the tip of Kaïra's finger, and its mouth was wide open as it rested an inch away from her nail. A blue gem was glowing inside the open mouth. The Tesseract's core was pretty much being swallowed by the snake.

"Pretty," Aaricia commented.

"Yes, I find the Space Stone goes well with the ring," Kaïra said with a toothy grin. "Can you imagine me holding out by hand and blasting Loki into oblivion with the tip of my finger?"

"I know you don't like your dad, Kaïra," Aaricia said . "I don't have the same experiences as you, but patricide can't honestly be your answer. You're much better than that."  
"You know I can't stand living with him casting a shadow in my life," Kaïra said firmly.

"That's your reason? Kaïra, you can't possibly go around with an Infinity Stone and blast people you want out of your life! You could get yourself and Kory in trouble! Besides, do you honestly want to follow your paternal family's cycle of revenge? Loki murdered Laufey out of prejudice and hatred for abandoning him as an infant. If you do the same thing with Loki, you'll end up no different than Loki and bad things could happen!" Aaricia jumped off her seat. "How much time would you have until you end up being the next Loki and you use the Tesseract to unleash an army? How much time will _I_ have until NU or any of the other divine immigration organizations decide that you are too dangerous and they bring me back to the Grey House?"

Judging by how terribly Kaïra was wrinkling her nose and frowning, Aaricia knew that she hit a nerve. Despite being polar opposites, Kaïra hated the Grey House far more than Kory did and the two shared the horrible dread of no longer having custody over Aaricia and the mortal would be sent to live with somebody else from NU. Heck, Kory permanently quit NU with Aaricia for the latter's wellbeing and Kaïra posed as Doctor Strange's arch-nemesis just to publically assassinate a NU agent that tried to storm into the cat café where Aaricia happened to be alone.

Kaïra looked back at her ring. "I suppose I can give it some more time to think it over."

"Do you promise on the River Styx?" Aaricia asked sharply.

The demigoddess groaned. "Fine. I swear on the River Styx to think more about it..."

"Great!" Aaricia smiled.

"Until your sixteenth birthday."

Aaricia grumbled. "Typical." She shrugged and went to hug Kaïra, who warmly returned the hug. "Please be careful."

"You know where I want to be." They broke off the hug and Kaïra went to check the window. "Kory and Captain America are outside." She smirked at Aaricia. "Did you trick them into staying at a restaurant together? Alone?"

Aaricia made a false pout of thought that made Fjordson do a water horse snicker. "Maybe," Aaricia said.

"Oy vey, you and your antics!" Kaïra shook her head, amused. She began to unlock the window and pop it open. "By the way, you might want to warn Anubis..."

"They think that you'd try brainwashing him and Vision because of the link with the Stones." Aaricia interrupted.

"I'm not that Loki low." Kaïra shook her head. "But listen to me, Aaricia. Seth is on the move. When I used the Space Stone to open the portal from Oslo to DC, the Stone made me see thing happening in multiple areas. In a few of them of them, I saw Seth turning Karnilla's mortal into the Fourth Plague. It then got confusing because it looked like the Fourth Plague was going in three different directions at the same time. The Fourth Plague is probably capable of cloning and she's sending her to three new pinpoints."

"That's a fast way to get three new plague," Aaricia said.

"More like Seth might be menaced by the fact that three demigods joined his son's side. I wouldn't be surprised if he plans to release Quetzalcoatl, Kali, and Sedna just to have them distract the demigods."

"But why would Seth feel threatened by Bacchus, Maui, and Kory?"

"Well, nothing can beat demigods of wind, sea, and earth better than gods of wind, sea, and earth." Kaïra's aura began to glow blue and her body slowly faded away, which meant that she was returning back to Kory's head. "Remember, Aaricia. Find the gods before the Fourth Plague does in the windiest area of India, the warmest area of Canada, and the South American counterpart of Wakanda."

Kaïra evaporated away. Aaricia grabbed Fjordson and made her way to the window. Cap and Kory waited for her on the ground and she jumped out the window without hesitation. "Guys," she said, "I got something huge!"

 _Back at GAMA, later_

They stepped inside a conference room, only to find everyone glaring at them.

"I'm shocked, Steve. Where the heck did you start sneaking out of places by using the bathroom excuse?" Tony asked.

"First time for everything," Steve said in a dismissive tone.

Marion rushed to Aaricia. "What happened?"

"You want to hear the good news, the mediocre news, or the bad news?" Aaricia asked.

"Start with the bad news."

"Bad news is that our idea to lure Kaïra didn't work as we planned," the blonde girl said. "I tried to get her to come while I was alone, but instead she came right when Karnilla was tracking me and Kaïra publically killed her while posing as Baron Mordo."

"Who?" Banner frowned.

"An old friend of Doctor Strange," Anubis said. "XI warned us about him defecting from the Order Of Mystic Sorcerers ever since Strange used the Time Stone to defeat Dormammu. But last time he was spotted, it was somewhere in Russia. Why would Kaïra pose as him?"

"Gee, that's a great question. Why would the evil persona of Loki's kid shapeshift into another person while committing murder? Maybe to avoid a manhunt?" Aaricia said sarcastically. Anubis lowered his head in embarrassment.

"And the mediocre news?" Marion asked.

"Kaïra stole the Space Stone for the purpose to kill Loki. I tried to convince her to think things through and she swore on the River Styx that she'd think about it... until my birthday."

"But that's in three days!" Marion exclaimed.

"How on earth did you convince my brother's daughter's evil persona to think this through?" Thor asked, impressed.

"You know, the basics on cycle of revenge and the classic 'if you murder him, you're no better than him'." Aaricia made her index fingers twirl.

"Great! Why don't we just send you to Seth and you can therapy-talk him out of destroying us all?" Tony joked.

"That's rich, coming from the adult who threw a tantrum when he found out the truth behind his parents' death." Aaricia patted Tony on the shoulder. "Look on the bright side, people have it far worse than you."

"Uh, thanks?" Tony was perplexed.

Marion cleared her throat. "And the good news?"

"Kaïra told Aaricia that Seth turned the NU agent Nile and Louse kidnapped into the Fourth Plague. She might have some sort of cloning power, given how Kaïra managed to track her going to three different directions," Cap said.

"Seth might be aiming to have the Trio of Evil confront Maui, Bacchus, and I," Kory said.

Bacchus spit the Diet Cola out of his mouth. "What threat do we pose?" Maui asked in confusion. "I mean, Bacchus is a wine maniac, I have a fishhook, biceps, and tattoos, and Kory suffers from MPD!"

"And parenthood stress," Kory added.

"You must either be cowards or lacking confidence." Anubis pointed at them. "Bacchus, I've known you long enough to see you turn pirates into dolphins, shake the earth to make room for the wine harvesting, and strike mortals mad. Any alcoholic plant obeys you. Maui, you've practically shaped out the Polynesian islands, your fishhook allows you to shapeshift, and your super-strength is insane enough to create a typhoon. And Kory, you survived the _freakin Holocaust_! You studied Nordic magic and Mystic Arts, you can survive the cold as a half- Frost giantess, and you're the only demigod crazy enough to turn herself into an ice whirlwind!"

"Ice... whirlwind?" Tony frowned.

"Frost giants can bend the cold air around them to transform into whirlwinds that spit out offensive shards of ice," Thor explained. He turned to Aaricia. "Any chances that Kaïra mentioned _where_ the trio was locked up?"

"Yeah. 'Windiest area of India, warmest area of Canada, and the South American counterpart of Wakanda,'" she quoted.

Tony searched through FRIDAY's data. He pulled up a map of the countries in question. "We're looking at Saskatchewan, narrowing at Maple Creek, Kangchenjunga, the world's third tallest mountain, and I got nothing for Wakanda."

"El Dorado."

They all looked at T'Challa, who until now had been on the sidelines with Barnes and Ant-Man. "Ulysses Klaw used to claim that El Dorado was actually Wakanda. I wouldn't be surprised if the Aztec feathered serpent was locked up in a vibranium prison in El Dorado."

"And Eldorado is hidden in a Hidalgo forest in Mexico." Maui rubbed his hands.

"Here's what we were thinking," Tony said. "One demigod and one non-Avenger go to each site while Anubis is used as bait. Any volunteers?"

"Wait, who's the fourth non-Avenger?" Aaricia asked. Just then, the doors opened and a GAMA agent escorted Spiderman. "I rest my case."

"How are you doing, Spiderman?" Cap shook hands with the red-and-blue spider motif vigilante.

"Good part? I aced another algebra test. Bad news? I had to trick my aunt into letting me come." He gave a dollar bill to Bonnie. "Thanks again for the recommendation on NYC hypnotists."

Bonnie gave a smug smile, took the bill, and sank it into her pocket.

"Yeah, OK." Tony was weirded out. "Kid, how do you feel about teaming up with Anubis for this one?"

Spiderman looked at Anubis, who gave him a small wave. "He's not going to mummify me, is he?" Spiderman cautiously asked Tony.

"Only if you are dead," Anubis shrugged.

"Great," Spiderman said.

"Buck? Scott?" Tony looked at the other two.

"I'm done with mountains," Barnes waved off. "I call Canada." He patted Scott. "Nothing personal."

"Eh, could time to see if I can be as tall as a mountain."

"And you, demigods?" Tiresias spoke up. "Do you have any preferences or would you prefer Fate to decide?"

"Actually." Kory raised her hand. "I'd like India."

"Why?" Aaricia frowned.

"Yeah, why?" Maui agreed. "Sure, Manitoba's warm, but it's still cold Canada and you handle cold weather better than Bacchus and I."

"Mexico's is a reasonable negative option. You'll melt there," Bacchus said. "Actually, Kory might have a point here."

"Is there ever a time when I _never_ had a point?" Kory frowned skeptically.

"Occasionally."

" _Ms. Ikolson and Bacchus might have an excellent idea,_ " Vision said. " _The evil gods are trapped in prisons that oppose their elements. Should Ikolson, for instance, deal with Kali in the top of a mountain, the strong wind currents can provide an advantage._ "

"See?" Bacchus said. "In that case, I can deal with Mexico while Maui has Canada."

"So we have Bucky with Maui to Canada, Ant Man and Kory to India, and T'Challa and Bacchus to Mexico," Cap summarized. "Spiderman will go with Anubis to distract Seth. The rest of us will split. The non-Avengers and I will go back to Wakanda with Sekmeth."

"Would it be in your interests to join us, Thor?" Sekmeth offered.

"As much as the indestructible metal city sounds interesting, I cannot. Banner and I must go back to my ship. Me to keep an eye on Kaïra trying to harm Loki and Banner to keep an eye on Loki," the god of thunder sighed.

Kory gave a piece of paper to Banner. "Email me a photo in case you Hulk out and drag Loki around like a ragdoll again," she smirked. "I want to use the photo as a screen saver."

"Sadism does run in the family," he chuckled.

"Any questions?" Tony volunteered.

"Yes. Rogers, could you keep an eye on Aaricia while I'm off in India?" Kory asked Captain America.

" _Seriously_?" Aaricia exclaimed. "You go off on a mission while I get stuck with a babysitter?"

"No, I'm going off on a mission while you get stuck with a babysitter _in Wakanda_ ," Kory rectified.

"But..."

"Kory's got a point _again_." Cap agreed. "You and the demigods were in the US for barely a few hours and the NU agent they rescued from the plagues took the opportunity of trying to get to you while you were alone. You were lucky that the evil twin intervened."

"Yes, but..." A cracking noise interrupted her. She turned slowly to see Kory. The daughter of Loki had ice spikes slowly cracking their way up her shoulders, her skin turned blue as she crossed her arms and tapped her fingers, and she glared angrily with pure red eyes. "OK, I'll deal with it! No need to go all Marshmallow on me!"

Kory reverted back to her human appearance and smiled. "Good."

Marion bowed to Tiresias. "I don't suppose we could notify the organizations neighboring Wakanda that a GAMA agent was tasked with being the bodyguard of an ex-NU agent?" She asked.

 _An hour later_

The anti-Accords Avengers were on their way to Wakanda via hover plane, along with Sekmeth, Aaricia, and Marion. Marion had managed to get Tiresias permission and Anubis didn't mind her going to Wakanda. The 'bodyguard' thing was just an excuse for her really wanting to spend time with her old childhood friend...

"You're going to keep sulking?" Falcon asked Aaricia, who still kept slouching on her seat with her arms and legs crossed. "C'mon, you'll like Wakanda! Lot's of advanced tech, mix of traditional and modern African clothing, rhino races, and T'Challa even gave you permission to spend time with his sister. She's your age. ya know?"

"Hurrah," Aaricia said drily.

"You're still mad at Kory?" Marion guessed. "Kind of normal."

"I'm not mad at Kory, I'm mad at NU!" Aaricia shook her head. "I never asked to join their Amazon brigade and they won't leave me alone ever since Kory made us quit last year!"

"You mean that Karnilla stalking you to the cat café wasn't unexpected?" Cap looked behind his seat to glance at the blonde teenager. "NU agents have been spying on you to bring you back into the division? Why?"

"Go ask them, how should I know?" Aaricia raised her hands in the air. "Even Kory wouldn't want to tell me why they want me back!"

"So they basically gave you Bucky's treatment," Falcon guessed.

"Not really." Aaricia shrugged. She rolled up her sleeves and revealed her bare arms for the first time. Everyone widened her eyes at the sight of blue runes scarred onto her upper and forearms' flesh. It was like reading rune paragraphs on human paper.

"They _scar_ you?" Marion grabbed one of Aaricia's arms to have a better look.

"Interesting." Sekmeth had a look herself. "I heard the Scandinavian League gave quest scars to their mortal Nimrod agents. I've never seen them myself, but I heard that each rune word and its color depict your assigned quest and its result. Blue for success, red for failure."

"Must have been a lot of successes," Falcon said.

"I did have one failure." Aaricia lifted up her left arm to reveal a red rune word close to her armpit.

" _Fafnir_." Sekmeth read. "They didn't!"

"What is a Fafnir?" Cap asked.

"A greedy serpent or a dragon in mythology," Wanda said. "Nothing like the Midgard Serpent, but sill bad."

Cap nodded silently, remembering what Kory told him about Aaricia supposedly destined to slay Jormugand or die. "Did the Norns task you to kill him?"

Aaricia sighed as she brought her sleeves down. "It was the last mission I did before we quit NU and the first one that I was sent to without Kory. They told me to bring back his head. You know, being me, I thought 'How worse can a dragon be? I already had to deal with trolls, rogue giants, and cranky selkies.' But when I got to the cavern's entrance, Fafnir was waiting..." Aaricia hugged herself. "He was a freaking giant common viper with legs! I hate snakes so badly, I freaked out and literally froze in terror! If Kory had intervened by freezing Fafnir and reducing him to ice cubes, I'd be dinner!" She sighed. "Good thing Kory made us quit. Granted, I miss the adventures, but at least now the non-humans I deal with are just friendly neighbors."

The hover plane finally arrived into Wakanda and landed safely on the ground. The Avengers, the girls, and Sekmeth got out and were greeted by the Dora Milaje, Queen Ramonda, and Princess Shuri. As they met up with the royals, Cap kept a close eye on Aaricia.

"How is T'Challa?" The queen asked.

"He's off to El Dorado, your Highness." Cap bowed.

The princess gave a friendly wave to Aaricia and Marion. The latters gave small nods.

Right now, the only thing that the present Avengers could think of while Sekmeth added magical protection over the city was to train with the Dora Milaje. When training, the Dora Milaje were quite stern. Those Wakandan Amazons barely flinched, even when Falcon tried to throw jokes at them.

Marion found herself having a shooting game with Hawkeye. The Dora Milaje used vibranium to make moving dummies meant to attack from distances and the two archers were even at hitting the dummies' hearts despite the twenty-foot distance. Both had advanced bows, though one was retractable and the other a crossbow. At one point when she ran out of arrows, Marion improvised by using rocks.

Aaricia was sitting on the bleachers during the whole lot. Fjordson was stuffing himself with some kind of fish salad he somehow managed to steal from the buffet. His owner looked at him and scratched him behind the horns.

"You do not train with the others?" Okoye walked up to her from the field once the former noticed the latter.

"I'm not a warrior." Aaricia shook her head.

"So why the scars?" Okoye was assuming that Aaricia's blue scars were kill scars like the ones that once covered Killmonger's body.

"Blue's for successful, red's for failed." She lifted her arm to show her sole, red scar. "In all of them, I used tricks rather than violence to complete them. My one failure was when I was given a direct order to kill."

"So? Warriors can be tricksters just as they be physically strong." Okoye nodded her head and had Aaricia follow her to the arena. She had one of the Dora Milaje warriors come and threw a Kaskara sword at Aaricia. "Go on. Use your tools for your tricks."

"I think you mistook me when I said 'tricks over violence'!" Aaricia protested.

 _Meanwhile, in Egypt_

Seth frowned as he looked Geb Orb, one of his brother's fancy toys that gave him the capacity to spy on the Earth. He frowned even more when he saw the aura coming out of that mortal descendant of Thor while she was using the sword to slide on the ground and slash the Dora Milaje warrior's ankles, weakening her before getting a kick in the back from the former.

"A fine trickster. Not very good in physical killing though. But I will not underestimate the Norns choices." He looked at the sarcophagus where Nephtys was three-quarters close to being reincarnated into Sharon Carter. "Hopefully Yatir does her job and frees the gods quickly. Quetzalcoatl must dispose of that mortal blood of Thor quickly."

 _Meanwhile, in Mexico_

The remains of a landslide blocked the path of Bacchus and T'Challa until the wine god fidgeted his fingers and the landslide moved to form a passage through the mountain. But instead of being welcomed by a gleaming city of gold, they were welcomed by a wasteland of dried ashes, empty ruins, and rusted junk. The only thing standing was a rock Inca temple with golden carvings and the height of the Washington Monument.

T'Challa held up a detecting device towards the temple. "The vibranium is hidden behind the stones. The walls are just a ruse."

"Practical." Bacchus bent down and picked up an ancient metal helmet. "Conquistador. El Dorado didn't stand a chance against the invasion of the greedy Spanish. But you got to admit, a hidden ruined city is the perfect place to camouflage a vibranium prison for a god."

T'Challa changed from his traveler's suit to his instant Black Panther uniform. The two walked their way to the temple. They took deep breaths and made their way up the steps.

"It's a shame El Dorado's gone," Bacchus said as he occasionally turned his head to look at the environment. "I thought I'd always come here if I ever got the chance to go to America... until Las Vegas came along. Still never got to go there."

"Why haven't you yet?" Black Panther asked.

"The US was still young and constantly fighting. With the monarchies falling and the democracies emerging among the conquerors, gods also felt divided. Usually by now, the gods who aren't in their home realm means that they went with the new order." Bacchus sat down to catch some breath while they were half way there. The Wakandan king decided to do the same and they watched the ashen world from bellow.

"You felt outcasted," Black Panther guessed. "You were the first demigod to make it to the podium of Olympian gods."

"Still am." Bacchus nodded. "Well, Hercules made it to minor godhood at one point but now he's reduced to a constellation. Most of the other gods or goddesses were born from gods pairing with goddesses or from rising from the ocean or from being born from a Titan. I'm the only one who was born from a god, Zeus, and a mortal woman, Semele. Sure, I brought wine and festivities, but I was still an immortal demigod and I brought madness. My stepmother Hera never liked me. I tried making my mortal mother and my wife immortals as well, but it didn't last."

"They couldn't stay immortal?"

"Being born to immortality is different than when it's given. When it's given, you only get to live an additional thousand years. I was born in 1500 BC and I'll die in 2200. I'll die first before Maui and Kory. As for my mother and wife, I outlived them." Bacchus sighed. "America's young. I did not want to ruin it, so I settled with Norway. At least the people there could handle my madness." He looked at Black Panther. "You're lucky to be a mortal. You don't have to watch everyone die while you live on or dread leaving your family behind when death is near for you."

"Being a mortal doesn't have its perks," Black Panther shook his head.

Bacchus shoved him out of the way before a golden jaguar-headed staff could impale his skull. The gold on the staircase cracked and made sizzling sounds as the young woman carrying it dragged it back up. The young woman wore an orange dress with black jaguar patterns, blue sash and thigh cuffs, vibranium cuff bracelets, golden orb earrings, and high-heeled sandals. Her long black hair flew with the wind and a brown headband kept it from running into her face. Her hazel eyes scowled as she aimed her staff at the god and king.

"Leave, intruders!" She shouted. "No god and man are allowed on this temple!"

"But you're here." Bacchus pointed at her.

"Because I am Tzira Khan, the last priestess of El Dorado and the sworn guardian of this temple!" She raised her staff. "My family has sworn to remain loyal to its post!"

"And your loyalty will remain." Black Panther summoned his mask away, revealed his face, and bowed on his knees. "Priestess, I am King T'Challa of Wakanda and I am accompanied by the god Bacchus. We have come to warn you of a danger threatening to release your prisoner."

The temple shook like a human breathing in panic. The wind was hissing through the cracks, as if to say _Give me blood!_

"Back off, Quetz!" Bacchus pointed a warning finger at the floor.

"He does that a lot. I must insist that you leave!" Tzira shoved the god and king with such strength, they landed back on the main ground in a puffed cloud. As they got back up, she jumped off the staircase and landed on the earth, making it crack under her feet. She pointed her staff at the passage they used. "Leave."

"But you don't understand..." T'Challa insisted.

"I understand perfectly!" Tzira pointed her staff's jaguar head at his nose. "It's _you_ who doesn't understand! There's a good reason that I shoo intruders away from El Dorado rather than kill them on the spot! One drop of mortal blood on the floor and the chains will loosen! Quetzalcoatl would just have to shake himself out afterwards!"

"Are you kidding me?" Bacchus exclaimed. "Of all the easy ways to release a god from his prison, it had to be human blood? Why not use a key and throw it into a volcano?"

"I ask myself that a lot," Tzira Khan nodded. "But please, leave!"

"Are you immortal?" T'Challa asked.

Without a chance to answer, Tzira Khan screamed as a hand went through her stomach and pulled out from behind. T'Challa caught the priestess while Bacchus hit the earth and summoned wine vines to trap the blue human dragonfly. When that didn't work, he ordered his vine to cover the entire temple, mummifying it in green bandages. To add further defenses, he caused giant menhir stones to rise and spin around the temple in two rings, one going clockwise and the other counter-clockwise. Bacchus smirked to himself. Then, the Fourth Plague spun herself and began to drill her way through the menhir stones. When she got to the vine bandages, she spit a hive of miniature humanoid dragonflies that flew in circles above the vines, causing them to rot.

"Well, she's persistent!" Bacchus complained.

"It will be too late..." Tzira Khan spit blood. "At this rate... she'll free the feathered serpent god."

"Don't." T'Challa looked at her wounds. "We can't leave her here. We can cure her back in Wakanda."

"No! I beg you!" Tzira Khan cried. "I spent my whole life in El Dorado! If I die, I want to die in it..."

"Chick, if we leave you, you either end up being Quetzalcoatl's dinner or the Fifth Plague!" Bacchus anxiously looked back at the temple. The mini human dragonflies had made their way through the vines and the Fourth Plague was now putting her foot on the main floor on top of the temple.

"Then take my staff... Combine it with the ones of the other two guardians... Only the Chosen one can bear it..." Tzira Khan coughed more blood and shoved her jaguar-headed staff into the wine god's hands. "If the Chosen One wields the weapon, she can slay the Midgard Serpent. If the Chosen One slays the Midgard Serpent, she can bring down the Feathered Serpent. If she can bring down the Feathered Serpent, she has the measure to confront Thanos when he's at the fullest."

"Did you say Thanos?" Bacchus gasped. But Tzira Khan died and the Fourth Plague scrubbed the floor with the blood of Tzira Khan. The temple shook viciously and earthquakes came to sink in the ashes of El Dorado. Bacchus took it as cue to use his vines to catapult himself and T'Challa halfway across the forest and back to their shuttle. Meanwhile, the Fourth Plague flew out of the way of the rising god and picked up the corpse of Tzira Khan. Finally, the temple exploded and a red light lit the wasteland. The large silhouette of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpents, matching GAMA's illustrations cackled.

"I AM FREEEEEEEEE!"

The Fourth Plague flew in closer as the light disappeared and saw the god come out of the light in human-size. He still looked exactly like in the illustrations...

Well, the illustrations never said that Quetzalcoatl, despite his monstrous appearance, also had the physical face, physique, and age of the actor Karan Brar and talking exactly the same way the actor did when he was on Disney Channel.

"Oy! Coiled down there was murder!" He stretched himself and paused to smirk at the blood stained floor. His smirk grew even wider when he saw the corpse of his old jailer being carried by a reboot of the Plagues of Egypt.

"Oh, the fun has begun."


	15. Free Two Goddesses With Blood

Chapter 15: Free Two Goddesses With Blood

While Bacchus and T'Challa were fleeing from El Dorado as it fell under the awakening of Quetzalcoatl, Barnes and Maui were driving a pickup truck on a highway leading out of Maple Creek and into an abandoned farm in the endless desert. Since he was still not quite desired by the governments, Bucky had his hair tied up, a black long-sleeved shirt covering his metal arm, and sunglasses. Maui pulled in and parked the truck right next to an old, rusted 1955 Chrysler Imperial. They stepped out of the car and saw the old, wooden farmhouse and its barn that were halfway through falling apart and joining the dried grass.

Maui grabbed some dirt in his hands. "The earth's dry. Dry as if it hadn't received any rain for centuries."

"They probably didn't want to give the water witch a drink," Barnes said.

Maui got back up and the two men made their way to the house. Barely after putting a foot on the first step, it crumbled under Barnes' feet.

"Damn. Are we sure this is Canada? Could be the Limbo Realm for all we know." Maui tried putting a small step onto the patio's wooden planks. Many cracked. Barnes just jumped and landed right on the ancient WELCOME mat.

"Limbo Realm? Isn't that where some sinners go when they can't make it to Hell?" Barnes held out his metal hand and helped Maui jump to the welcome mat. The Winter Soldier just pushed the door open and it actually moved without collapsing. The men made their way inside the farmhouse. It was only one room on the inside, mostly because the floors making the second and the attic had collapsed to form circular holes on the ceiling. A dead silver chandelier hung from the roof and dangled above them like a house wrecking ball. The only furniture in sight was rotten wood chairs and table that not even termites bothered to feast on.

"Limbo Realm is a place worse than Heaven and Hell," Maui said as they walked around, taking cautious steps that led to the occasional floor collapsing below their feet. "It's like a timeless realm where people who are stuck are forever cursed to do whatever they were judged between natural laws."

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Let's just say the chairs are two different 'laws' and the table at the middle is the Limbo Realm," Maui pointed at the furniture. "Say you did something... and nature had to judge you at any point in your life. If you don't deserve the first two locations, it sends you to the third one, the garbage in between. You're the Winter Soldier. HYDRA forced you to kill people against your will. If nature wanted to, it would judge you like 'Oh, you murdered for HYDRA, you don't deserve to be forgiven, but you were brainwashed, so you don't deserve to be punished.'"

"So it's like the universe looking at you in gray perspective." Barnes looked through the broken planks and mostly saw rat corpses.

"And if you _did_ get sent to the Limbo Realm, you'd be stuck to forever kill people because you were following orders." Maui shrugged. "It's also the price to pay if you get targeted by the wielder of the Infinity Stones."

"What?"

"You know, the glowing stones with insane universal powers. When I became a demigod, the gods told me about how they worked individually and the immense power that one madman gets should he get all six. If someone were bent on 'saving life' by killing half of a population in a blink, they'd just have to collect all six stones and snap his fingers. Anyone gets disintegrated. Problem is, since the Infinity Stones' conscience are wired to the rules of nature, they can't just make everyone disappear out of existence. If the stones are going to wipe out half of existence, they must allow nature to select those who will be disintegrated and the chosen ones end up in the Limbo Realm."

"So, depending on whatever the stones do, nature can send those 'acts' to the Limbo Realm?"

"Yep. For example, say that you use the Time Stone to go back in time and prevent a building from collapsing. Let nature do the judging, and in the Limbo Realm, the building has to go through an endless time loop of collapsing and rebuilding. Destroy a city with the Power Stone and it will rebuild everyday in the Limbo Realm. Destroy a life with the Soul Stone and the person will appear in the Limbo repeating endlessly whatever it was doing."

"Hm." Barnes looked up at the chandelier. "Since Anubis can't kill Seth, do you think that he could just simply send to the Limbo Realm?"

"God, that would be a fate worse than death!"

"Maui, did you happen to notice that the chandelier is the only thing that isn't wood?"

The question struck Maui. He joined Barnes and had a closer look himself while Barnes used technological data to analyze it.

"It's lead." They both said.

They spotted a healthy ladder in a corner. They looked at each other and climbed it up to the remains of the attic floor. There, they found an old man sitting on an old armchair. He was holding the end of the chain as if the chandelier was just an ordinary fishhook and not something made of heavy lead.

The old man took a deep breath. "How're you doing, Maui?"

"Bellerophon?" Maui knelt before the old man so that their heads could be at the same height. "My god."  
"The Ancient Greek hero who rode Pegasus to kill the Chimera?" Barnes looked curiously at the old man.

"You're Sedna's guardian?" Maui said. "Geez! I ask the gods to treat you nicely after I got you out of Limbo Realm, and they do this to you?"

"Bellerophon was in the Limbo Realm? Why? I thought he was a hero by killing Chimera and saving lives!"

"BAH!" Bellerophon spat. "The worst sin any mortal hero could possibly get is his pride! I build such an ego after slaying the monster and riding Pegasus, I thought I could measure up to the Olympians and Zeus hit me off the sky when I tried flying towards Mt. Olympus! I didn't deserve the Elysian Fields due to my pride nor did I deserve to go to the Fields Of Punishment because I saved lives. So what do I get? Limbo Realm and the life of doing nothing but falling off a cliff everyday!"

"It was a coincidence, running into him in the Limbo Realm." Maui explained. "Technically, it was Anubis' faults. The Rapharions were still upset after a century passed since Moses led the Hebrews to freedom, so he had me and some other foreign demigods bring back as many of the Egyptian victims as we could from the plagues. Turned out that only 10% of the victims went to the Egyptian afterlife with Osiris and the 90%, well..."

"Stuck in the Limbo Realm!" Bellerophon whistled. "It was whacked, getting new neighbors sent by the Plagues of Egypt! Everyone was doing a crazy thing they were doing until the plagues got them! The weirdest one was when Egyptian farmers were running away from zombie cows everyday! Heck, when I was falling down my cliff, that's when Maui saved me from a zombie cow stampede."

"I brought you back to the Olympian gods and they swore that they'd tolerate you." Maui waved up and down at Bellerophon. "This is what they make you do?"

"Yep. I mean, it's boring since Sedna does nothing except sleep in her dry prison, but since the territory is enchanted, no mortal stumbles upon it by accident."

"What's with the chandelier of lead?" Barnes pointed at the chandelier.

Bellerophon shook the chain. "Same tactic that I used on the Chimera. Dropping lead and having her choke it. I'll use the same thing on Sedna if that sea goddess tries to get loose."

"About that." Barnes explained to Bellerophon the reason as to why they came. As the words sunk in, the retired hero nodded is head and wiped his shirt with his beard.

"So, Seth wants to free Sedna and her associates?" Bellerophon said. "Guess he's desperate."

"What do you mean?" Barnes frowned.

"Come now! Seth is to Osiris the Disney version of Hades to Zeus! Everyone despises him, the god of deserts, storms, and disorder! He's also known for desiring to do things with his own hands because if he relied on others, it would make him look like he _really_ needs help."

"Well, he is physically damaged and needs Anubis' Eye of Ra to get his physique and powers to their fullest..." Maui said until Bellerophon interrupted him.

"I repeat: He. Likes. To. Do. Things. With. His. Own. Hands. Besides, you know that gods can always possess human bodies until they find a way to regain their bodies back. If Seth is so desperate to get to Anubis and the Eye of Ra to get his body and powers back for good, why hasn't he placed his spirit in a mortal and used his host to get what he wanted himself? Not to mention that if he possesses the Eye of Ra, he could burn off any soul he wanted on Earth. So why would the solo-act rely on brainwashed servants and remade plagues to do is dirty work while he stays inside his lair? Seth isn't known to be lazy."

Maui and Barnes looked at each other. They realized that Bellerophon might be onto something. After all, Seth wasn't that wimpy. Why rely on others to do the job for him?

Barnes heard something and quickly walked to the nearest window. A giant woman dragonfly was flying straight towards the farm. "I think we have company!" He pulled out his gun and made his way downstairs.

"If I use my powers of water, I might accidentally free Sedna!" Maui told Bellerophon.

"Relax!" The old man said. Noises outside began to indicate that Barnes was shooting at the Fourth Plague. "The trio's prisons were designed so that only human blood stained on their walls could break the prisons. If your friend or I get killed, that's that!"

Maui rechecked the window. Barnes was an ace at shooting the Fourth Plague down, but everytime he hit her in the stomach, she either duplicated or shriveled into ashes. It looked like the Fourth Plague's master had given her either cloning capacities or the power of illusions. He then noticed that as more clones came and got diced, the new copies looked like they were wearing out.

"BARNES! KEEP SHOUTING! EVERY NEW COPY TURNS HER WEAK!" The demigod shouted. Barnes took in the advice and doubled in his shooting.

"Maui, look under my armchair." Bellerophon tilted his head to his left. Maui briefly stared at him and bent down to search under the said armchair. His hand got a hold of something and pulled out an old Grecian bronze spear with its tip tainted in silver. "Bellerophon. It's your spear. The one you used to kill the Chimera."

Bellerophon's hands trembled. "Maui, I don't know how long I can hold this. Take my spear. Once it unites with the other guardian's weapons, it will turn into a weapon that only She-The-Gods-Cherish can wield. As she uses her weapon to live out her destiny, she'll be able to face off Thanos."

"T... Thanos?" Maui gasped.

As Bellerophon predicted, he didn't know how long it would last. His final breath escaped his mouth and his hands let go of the chandelier's chain. The object fell its way down onto the floor. The copies of the Fourth Plague disintegrated outside. Seeing this, Barnes rushed back indoors and Maui saw the damage. One of the copies of the Fourth Plague, perhaps the original that had come here, was crushed under the chandelier and her blood was now flowing its way through the planks. The floor shook and suddenly got moist, as if it rained for centuries. A gush of water and underwater junk exploded out of the floor and stormed its way out of the farmhouse and into the open desert. Speaking of the house, it collapsed. Maui grabbed Barnes and lifted him up on his shoulder as if Barnes were a mere flour bag and ran towards the car before the house could collapse into ashes.

"I hope the others are doing a better job than us," Maui sighed.

 _Meanwhile, in Kangchenjunga_

Kory placed her hands on the enchanted door of red silver and siderite. Her skin turned blue as her fingers spread a vicious frost that proceeded to freeze the other side of the door. A hellish scream came from the other side.

"You deserve it!" Kory shouted from her side. Her skin went back to normal and she let go of the door. "We're good, Giant-man!"

The cell had been placed in a floating container of red silver and siderite that floated in the sky like a balloon while a chain kept it connected to the temple. Scott had to turn into Giant-Man to carry her up his palm to reach the prison and reduce the temperature to an insane level that Kali couldn't control. Once Kory had her foot back in the ground, Giant-Man turned back to Ant-Man.

The head monk of the temple bowed in gratitude. "Man of ants, demigoddess, my gratitude for your service," he said.

"Anytime," Scott shrugged.

"Kaly can't stand the cold. It will keep her in her spot," Kory pointed at the prison at the clouds' level. "Frost Giant cold can be frozen for at least two thousand years."

The wind chimes in the temple's courtyard shook and made violent sounds. "The other prisons have been compromised!" The monk gasped.

"The others failed to keep the other two gods in?" Ant-Man said.

"The Fourth Plague is much more fickle than I expected," Kory said. "Come to think of it, why hasn't she shown up yet?"

Ant-man looked back and forth at the sky cage and at the temple. "Kory, I might have a crazy idea, but I need to inspect the cage in a microscopic form. Can you get me up to were the chain meets the bottom of the cage?"

Kory frowned but ceded. She crossed her arms over her chest and shouted something in Norwegian. Her skin glowed and turned blue as her height increased, her eyes red, and her clothing turned into ice. Ant-Man jumped on the demi- Frost Giantess and she lifted him up. Once he was at his intended area, he shrunk and managed to sneak into an ant-sized hole. After five minutes of searching, he jumped back onto Kory's palm and she shrunk back to her human self before he grew up to his regular size.

"Check out what I found in the cell." Ant-man put an old-fashioned radio on the floor.

"Hey, my mother used to have a radio like that back before the Nazis confiscated the Jewish of their radios!" Kory looked happy to see something from her time and proceeded to turn it on. The hellish scream from earlier was scratching in the radio until it declared a message.

" _'Hi, this is Kali, your ex-prisoner. By the time you hear this message, I will be miles away from the temple. Oh, and if you're wondering how the hell I got out, it's easy. During the war, some planes were flying over the mountain and you sent someone to double-check the security of my cage. Problem was, the monk you sent was a Thugee descendant, so he sacrificed an orphan to free me and helped me set this radio to make you look foolish. Oh yeah, I had to throw him off the mountain once I left. And Quetzalcoatl and Sedna?_ _ **THANKS A LOT FOR NOT SHOWING UP TO FREE ME!**_ '" The radio went into a static state.

"Thugee supporters have invaded our temple!" The monk gasped. He pulled something out of his cloak: a silver medallion of the Hindu god Ganesh. "The gods have warned that a time like this would come."

"You mean they knew that the bad gods would be set free?" Ant-Man asked.

"What did you think? Nothing lasts forever. Peace only lasts until someone starts a revolution or a war. Prisons can only keep a prisoner in for a certain time." He handed the necklace to Kory. "Kali is out in the world, but out of the tree gods, Quetzalcoatl is the most dangerous."

"I know," Kory grimaced.

"Fate wants it that whoever defeats Quetzalcoatl obtains the measure to defeat Thanos." The monk looked sadly at Kory. "You know that Quetzalcoatl won't hesitate to use your brother."

Kory said nothing. She said nothing until she and Ant-Man were escorted out of the temple and they made their way back to the jet.

"Can Quetzalcoatl really control your brother?" Scott asked.

"If he wanted to. He's the Feathered Serpent, the snakes obey him. My brother is the Midgard Serpent, and the Feathered Serpent is above him enough to force him to do his bidding," Kory sighed. "I dreaded this. When the Norns mean that a Thor's blood would slay the Midgard, they actually meant a three-phase ticket to doom! I can't let Aaricia kill my brother! Not only do I lose my brother, but I might lose her if she confronts Quetzalcoatl and she will **definetly** die in the hands of Thanos!"

"Who's Thanos?" Scott asked. "I know little about mythology, but isn't he a spirit of death."

"That's Thanatos. Common mistake," Kory shook her head. "Thanos is from the planet Titan. He's best known for being called the Mad Titan and for being obsessed with the Infinity Stones. To sum it up, my father Loki is terrified of him."

"Loki is terrified of Thanos?" Scott was surprised. "I mean, I heard Hulk yanked Loki like a ragdoll..."

"Thanos was the one behind my father's invasion of New York. He gave Loki the scepter holding the stone that Vision has on his forehead. He wanted the Tesseract."

"So unless Seth destroys humans through his plagues, Thanos will come." Scott was shocked. "And is Aaricia destined to kill him?"

"I should hope not." The jet opened up and they stepped inside. Kory set the jet to autopilot. "Even the gods fear him more than they fear certain big bad guys on Earth. Loki's afraid of him, the immortal creatures who've heard of him fear him, and even Bacchus' father and Seth dread him. So far the only good thing I ever heard about him is that he doesn't discriminate when it comes to wiping out half a population."

"How's that a good thing?" Scott frowned. Kory gave him a 'what do you think' look. "Sorry. I keep forgetting. I heard you... you know..."

"Yeah." The jet took flight. "Do me a favor, Scott. Don't tell the Avengers and certainly not Aaricia about Thanos yet. The threat of Seth is enough to worry them, they'll be more pressured if we add in a Titan."

Scott nodded. "I get you want to protect Aaricia. Parental instincts are hard to rid off. I won't say anything, but you're the one who has to tell Aaricia the truth. Cap learned the hard way that karma bites harshly when you lie under the pretense to protect others."

"How so?" Kory asked curiously.

"The Avengers were ripped in half."

 _Meanwhile, at the Grand Canyon_

Anubis' jackal form stepped from behind the rock once he was done doing his business. He morphed back into his humanoid self and joined Spiderman as the two observed the Grand Canyon resting before them.

"It's a great view, isn't it?" Anubis complimented the landmark. "It almost reminds me of the Sinai Peninsula. Back when I was still a young godling, Mother Isis would take me and Horus to visit the indigo mines. Many mortals offered her indigo for the tunic dresses she wore on feast days."

"Wasn't Sinai the mountain where Moses established the Ten Commandments?" Spiderman asked.

"It was. But I mostly remember it for the mines... and the Catholic monastery they built to attract tourists today," Anubis chuckled. "Interesting fact that mortals never know: most religious places hold secret vaults in case the clergy should ever host a god temporarily."

"So if you were to go to Sunday church, they'd have a stock of nectar for you?" Spiderman joked.

"I said _most_ , not _all,"_ Anubis said. "See, the rise of monotheist religions led to the gods and other immortals dispersing. As for religious sanctuaries, the ancient ones are usually the safest. The modern ones wouldn't be as welcoming. In case you've noticed, there are lots of mortals who've gone past believing in our existence. As for the religious, either there are descendants of our past priests or they are serious with the rules of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, they renounce whatever is considered pagan."

"Like serious Catholics forbidding their kids from reading Harry Potter."

"EXACTLY!" Anubis exclaimed. "C'mon, I watched the series on DVD with my friend Marion. The second movie was my favorite!"

"Eh. I prefer the fifth movie."

"Why? The second movie has giant spiders in it and you're Spiderman."

"And the third movie has werewolves and guys turning into black wolves. And here you are."

"Mmh. Touché."

As they continued admiring the canyon, the young superhero and the young god continued comparing and contrasting cultural stuff. It was a good break. Anubis was still working on catching up with modern stuff and Spiderman seriously needed a fellow geek to talk about such stuff, considering how the older and more mature Avengers considerer his cultural-referencing antics a bit tiring. They did manage to find things in common in one another. For instance, they both hated the TWILIGHT saga, preferred the second movie in the BACK TO THE FUTURE trilogy, liked listening the soundtrack of the LABYRINTH movie with David Bowie in it, were fans of KIM POSSIBLE, and _loathed_ TEEN TITANS GO!

They were on the verge of discussing Disney Channel sitcoms when Spiderman tensed. He got up and looked at the environment surrounding them.

"Is something wrong?" Anubis asked.

"My spider senses are jingling," the young superhero said. "Something's in the canyon."

"Must be our bad guy." Anubis got up and summoned his ankh scepter. He cautiously walked to the edge and checked the ravine that stood below them. A rumbling noise emerged for just five seconds.

"Must be the thunder," he said.

"With the clear sky were having?" Spiderman put a hand over his eyes to avoid the sun blinding him. He clutched his head and groaned while the rumbling resumed, only a bit louder and ten seconds long this time.

"Wait..." Anubis knelt down and pressed his ear on the ground. The rumbling resumed, louder and twenty seconds longer. As the rumbling continued until it hit the time of a minute, Anubis felt the earth shaking a bit. His eyes widened.

"Grandfather!"

"Grandfather?" Spiderman frowned.

On cue, the earth shook. A crater was growing out of the ravine's bottom and up emerged a giant of stone. Once his waist was at the level of the ravine's bottom, he stopped growing. The 'rumbling noise' came from his mouth and progressed into laughter.

"Your grandpa can shake the Earth by laughing?" Spiderman looked at Anubis. The latter gave him a quiet finger gesture warning him to watch his tongue. They watched as the stone increased his laughter, summoning rattlesnakes from the pits of the Great Canyon. The reptiles slithered around his limbs until they solidified into an attire for the god. Once his clothing and accessories were solidified, his stone skin grew shades of barley. In the end, he looked like the Green Giant dressed in a green-and-turquoise shendyt, a matching psychent with carvings of snakes, birds, and bulls, and Egyptian bracelets depicting various types of plants covered his whole arms. In his right arms, he carried a _was_ scepter woven out of solid bailey.

"Grand Geb..." Anubis bowed on his knees. Nervous of making a mistake, Spiderman copied him.

"My second grandson!" Geb smiled down at them. "And Peter Parker!"

Anubis looked at Spiderman in confusion. Spiderman sighed and took off his mask, revealing a fifteen-year-old brown haired geek. "Wow. You really are that young?" Anubis was surprised.

"A good kid with a good family!" Geb used one of his giant thumbs to pet Peter's head. "I'll never forget the day when your parents crash-landed on me or when I had leftover stains from your Uncle Ben!"

Peter looked traumatized. Anubis wasn't sure if it was because he was reminded of his lost ones or because Geb said all of this in a laughing tone.

"He doesn't mean to make fun out of it," Anubis reassured the mortal. "Geb was born to make earthquakes out of his laughter."

This calmed down his friend. "But I don't see the earthquakes," he said.

"My boy, I am an earth god! My earthquakes are everywhere! Whenever I laugh, my seismic servants go spread elsewhere! I'd say by now, North Korea is in for a surprise!" Geb laughed.

"Now grandfather, remember Haiti in 2010 and San Francisco in 1906." Anubis warned.

"Sorry!" Geb still kept laughing, but his black-mascara covered green eyes had an apologetic tone. It was like he was trying to say with his eyes 'I'm sorry.'

"He really can't stop laughing?" Peter asked Anubis.

"Honestly, I'm not sure if he was born this way or if my great-grandfather purposely made him this way," Anubis sighed. "All I know is that he laughs all the time. He laughs loudly when he's serious, but he gets his tone down when he's not serious."

"But since my laugh is as big as Ra, I am much serious!" Through his laughter, Geb scowled, which now made him a close to evil maniacal laughter. "My grandson, I come bearing bad, mediocre, and average news! The bad is that the evil trio of gods are out!"

"What?" Anubis' eyes widened. "But how is that possible? The non-Avengers and the demigods..."

"Valiant efforts, indeed! Sadly, my son Seth, your father, has gone wily with his Fourth Plague! It went sneaky on your friends in Mexico and Canada, killing the El Dorado guardian and sacrificing one of its clones to free Quetzalcoatl and Sedna respectively! As for Kali, it so happened that she's been freed since World War II! Whether Seth knew it or not is a mystery!"

"The crazy four-armed goddess depicted with her tongue sticking out?" Peter crossed his arms, fidgeted his fingers, and stuck his tongue out as if to imitate Kali. Anubis giggled at the joke and Geb actually had to cover his mouth to prevent his laughter from crumbling the entire canyon. Peter then went back to being professional. "But seventy-years underground? Must be tough for an evil god to keep such a low profile!" He looked up at Geb. "Do you know where she could be?"

"Sadly, no!" Geb laughed. "If she had walked the earth or even put a foot on it for five seconds, I would have sensed her godly presence! But Kali was held in a prison floating in the clouds! Since mortal blood is needed to break the jails open, it is very likely that Kali transferred her godly essence into her sacrifice's body and gone to a chaotic setting where she blends in easily!"

"Kali blending in with humans?" Anubis snorted.

"Don't underestimate, my grandson! Kali is like magma after all! She rests underground, waits for the right moment. Her surrounding gets fooled and when they fall into trust, she erupts!"

"So Kali is waiting for the right moment to strike while also blending in the chaos," Peter said. He then snapped his fingers. "The gathering!"

"The gathering?" Anubis frowned.

"Mr. Stark briefed me on the organizations and explained their basics," Peter explained. "Since Seth used his plagues to strike six different countries -we're not counting India, that means the divine immigration organizations will have to gather with the UN, courtesy of the Themis Protocols!"

"The young one is right!" Geb laughed. "That was supposed to be the mediocre news! But he saved time!"

"Uh, thanks?"

"Knowing the regular UNs and our _beloved_ Secretary of States, I guess the gathering will be in two days." Anubis then cussed something in Egyptian before saying in English: "It's also the deadline that Kaïra Lokisia gave herself before deciding whether or not she uses the Tesseract on Loki."

"It's the problem with divine laws!" Geb snickered in a sad tone. "Gods and mortals can love each other, but they cannot stay together!"

"Grandfather, what are the good news?" Anubis quickly changed the subject.

"Ah, yes! The good news! Well, the first part is that few of your Rapharion comrades have survived! Those survivors include your cousin Horus, his beloved Hathor..."

"You were supposed to give good news," Anubis said bitterly.

"Sobek, Hapi..."

"Hm, Sobek's alright, but I think Hapi is still ticked that I changed the Nile into blood."

"Ptah..."

"Sekmeth's ex-boyfriend..." Anubis sounded bored.

"...and my daughter Isis."

Anubis froze. His eyes didn't blink or shed tears, but he really looked like he wanted to sob. "Mother Isis... alive? But how? I thought she died!"

"Be reasonable, grandson! My daughter Isis is the combination of Queens Hera and Friga for the Rapharions! Fair, just, and a talented magician who taught you the tricks you know! When my son Seth assaulted the city, she created a magical dummy clone and turned into a swallow setting her wings away from Egypt! She tried to find you and see if you two could reunite, but flying around as a swallow has eaten her energy! As we speak, she is close to covering all her energy in her refuge in the Greco-Turkish territories!"

"The Greco-Turkish territories?" Peter asked. "You mean she is in territories shared by Greece and Turkey?"

"Not quite! She never stays in one place, so she travels from Olympia to Istanbul and vice versa in circles to avoid detection from both my son Seth and the local divine immigration organizations! Her friends Hera, Greek goddess of marriage, and Ishara, Hittite goddess of love, serve as her hosts in her resting stops!"  
"I have to find her!" Anubis put away his ankh scepter. "Southeastern Europe might be one of Seth's targets for a future plague! It can't be a coincidence if Mother Isis is there!" He then froze in this tracks. "But wait! I can't go to Europe! The last time I went to another country against GAMA rules, I got the leaders ticked off!"

"I could go for you," Peter volunteered.

Anubis turned. "You'd do that?"

"Why not? I mean, if it turns out that we're bound for a gathering with the UN, they won't be expecting me. I'm just the friendly neighborhood Spiderman, not an Avenger. If I go get your mom, no one will notice."

"But what if Iron Man asks?"

"Tell him you had your Grandpa Geb drop me off at Queens. It's where Mr. Stark usually expects me to be."

"I could have one of my seismic sprites pose for him!" Geb volunteered.

Anubis pondered a bit before eventually ceding. Without asking permission, he brought down the Spiderman suit's collar and scratched something on the back of Peter's neck. He sketched out some bloody hieroglyphics that glowed with the Eye of Ra before fading into normal skin.

"I hereby name you the First American Ambassador of Anubis, Peter Parker," Anubis said. He tucked the collar back up. "Do me proud."

"Wow, thanks!" Peter said in excitement.

Geb smiled and brought down his spare hand. When he released his fingers, his palm grew a four holed flute made of bailey-colored silver. The instrument floated towards Anubis while Geb let Peter climb on his big hand. "The instrument is needed to assemble the weapon for the One Cherished By Gods, my grandson! Oh, and the other good news is that Seth managed to fully reincarnate my daughter Nephtys into the body of Sharon Carter.

"WAIT, WHAT?" Anubis exclaimed. He rushed after him in the hopes of making sure that he did hear Geb properly laugh out loud 'Guess what? Your murdered mom was reincarnated by the guy who killed her inside the leftovers of your buddy Captain America's girlfriend!'

Sadly, he didn't get the chance to double-check. Geb and Peter Parker sank back into the earth, leaving Anubis alone in the Great Canyon.

"Sometimes I hate being a god," he sighed.


	16. Past Tales and Bitter Reunion

Chapter 16: Past Tales and Bitter Reunion

The anti-Accords Avengers, Sekmeth, the royal family members, and Aaricia stopped eating dinner when they had to watch Marion read a paper proclamation that just popped out of nowhere on her lap.

"They couldn't stop Quetzalcoatl, Sedna, and Kali from being freed," Marion said in shock.

"Is the letter from the others?" Cap asked.

"Have you not seen the stamped seal on the paper?" Aaricia asked. "It's the silver stamp of the Themis Protocols. It's only used for when a gathering is going to be put in order. Marion, what are the details of the gathering?"

"It says here that LAMBDA and MAIA (Mexico's divine immigration organization, the Mexico Association for Immortals and Aztecs) patrols were accosted by our friends. They inspected the jails and confirmed that human blood stained the prisons. The guardian of El Dorado was killed and PI agents have footage of Quetzalcoatl and Sedna going to Seth's lair with the guardian's corpse in hand," Marion said.

"No doubt to turn her into Seth's Fifth Plague," Sekmeth said. "What about Kali?"

"The shit from DELTA... they confess that they knew that Kali was out and have currently been unable to detect her. So far she hasn't been seen in India."

"That's the whole purpose of immortals blending in the mortal society," Aaricia said.

"Even though Seth isn't currently getting a host from Canada, he managed to get his fifth plague host from Mexico, therefore struck the five countries limit. A UN and divine immigration organizations gathering will be in session this Wednesday... at Nairobi." She crunched the paper and tossed it into the vibranium fireplace. "Typical. Kenya is technically close to the south of Africa."

"Might as well put a sign for Seth saying 'Welcome to our all-you can eat human host buffet. Please, feel free to take any host you like to use for your plagues'," Hawkeye said sarcastically.

"Yep."

Wanda looked at Aaricia, who looked like she was turning pale. "Are you alright?" She asked the blonde teen.

"I honestly hope that my presence and Kory's won't be demanded at the gathering," she said.

"Why would you worry about that?" Marion frowned. "The gatherings aren't violent."

"Don't you know the rules of the Themis Protocols? During such gatherings, the heads of each organization must bring its branches' leaders, and each of those three leaders must bring their best duo. You and Anubis are said to have done the best work so far in the Nimrod Branch, so your leader might call upon you. But what if the Norns try having me and Kory come even though we quit? What if they start using pretenses that Kory's unfit to have me in her care and they try forcing me back in NU? And since I'm turning sixteen on the day of the gathering, what if they make me do whatever goddamn task..."

"Language," Cap warned.

"Sorry," Aaricia apologized.

"I don't think you should worry," Sekmeth said as she drank some Heart-shape herb soup. "Resigning from the organizations willingly is permanent in all organizations. But I do agree with you that precautions need to be taken. It is highly best that you and your demigod friends don't stick around the UN during the meeting."

"We don't intend on being indoor either, but we could do a perimeter check," Cap said. "In case our godly rogues decide to pay a visit."

"Do you think that they could pose as humans to infiltrate the UN?" Shuri asked.

"Possibly, but it wouldn't last," Sekmeth shook her head. "Quetzalcoatl would break out of his disguise to show off and Sedna would try chopping people's fingers off."

Aaricia looked like she was bound to be sick. Right when the servants cleared the table to make way for dessert, Marion's phone rang. She politely asked the Queen Mother if she could be excused. The queen smiled in permission.

"Yeah, the atmosphere is very terrible. Anyone got a good story to lift up our spirits?" Shuri volunteered in her casual tone.

"The Norwegian volunteered," Sam said instinctly.

" _Excuse me_? I happen to be born from the same Western country as you!" Aaricia exclaimed.

"You got the accent."

"Because I lived in Norway for eight years! What about you, chicken wings? Do you fly and get brain-fried by the sun so that you can donate to McDonald's?"

Falcon gasped in shock. The others just exploded into laughter. Even Queen Ramonda covered her mouth with a napkin to hide her giggles and Sekmeth quickly carved the words into a tablet to remember.

"Besides, what do you want me to tell you? I live with a demigoddess suffering MPD, I have a pet water hose who loves Wakandan fish salad," she waved her hand at Fjordson, who was laying on a pillow and eating said meal on a vibranium dish, "our closest friends are the Roman god of parties, alcohol, and madness, and the Polynesian demigod of showing off tattoos and fishhooks, and we go play hockey with the local Frost giants every February."

"You play hockey... with Frost Giants," Sekmeth enunciated her disbelief.

"They're fun when you get to know them. One of them actually managed to win the most golden medals in the cross-country skiing event of the 2014 Winter Olympics." Aaricia shrugged.

"So I guess you know how Kory's mom hooked up with Loki?" Hawkeye asked.

"Clint!" Cap warned.

"What?"

"He's not wrong." Aaricia crossed her fingers. "I mean, I heard how Kory was conceived, but I'm still confused on the part of Loki leaving. Kory says he left without blinking, Bacchus and Maui say he stayed longer than he should have, and the local immortals say that he only did what the divine laws demanded him."

"Kory said that her mother, Ms Ikolson, was a merchant," Cap said quietly.

"A textile merchant and a weaver," Aaricia nodded. "The woman was named Evangeline Ikolson. Both her parents were Jewish, her mom being a Norwegian woman who taught her how to weave and sell her fabric works in the market, and her dad a historian and part-time merchant who'd occasionally bring his wife's work to the places he visited and sell them. The things that her father researched on Norwegian history and myths interested Evangeline into portraying her country's heritage in tapestries, doilies, blankets, and other forms of fabrics. She was almost like Arachne but without the hubris.

"Her mother died of illness when Evangeline was sixteen and her dad made the fatal mistake of bringing family merchandise heading to Britain during the First World War. Evangeline was on her own. She had no other relative. So she kept doing her heritage and myth based textiles and weaving, sold them to fair prices, and made a well-off living. She even imitated her dad and went to different cities to sell them at art markets."

"Was it during the art markets that she met Loki?" Cap asked.

"Not quite. When Evangeline was in her late twenties -I think she was twenty-seven or twenty-eight, she got the chance of a lifetime. A modern art museum curator had taken interest in her work and put some of her tapestries in display for an exhibit of hopeful rising youth artists. It was by chance that she ran into Loki. He was sent to Norway by Odin to double-check the safety of the Asgardian artifacts stored in the museum, but he got distracted by the exhibit, especially when he took interest in a tapestry that represented myths only about him."

"Typical," Hawkeye said. "He meets the one mortal who bothers to do art on him only and he stalks her. I bet she was also his type."

"You'd be shocked, but he had no idea what she looked like and Evangeline already knew that he was Loki."

"I don't get it," Shuri was confused. "How he not know what she looked like and how could she know who he was?"

"Really?" Aaricia frowned. "The one tapestry that isn't the most viewed gets admired by the one guy who happens to be the inspiration? Evangeline may have been raised Jewish, but her family was aware of the existence of the Frost Giant clan from the mountains neighboring Tønsberg. There was even a rumor that Mrs. Ikolson might have been a descendant of Freya, which explained why the Ikolson women have the pink strike on their hair." Aaricia tugged on a hair strand to make her point. "As for the other part, she was formally dressed and wearing a veil to hide her hair. You know, for religious reasons when it comes to going out in public.

"Since she was veiled clothing wise, Loki had no clue of what she looked like but he was interested in her personally. He couldn't find her during the rest of the exhibition and when he asked the curator where she went, he gave Loki Evangeline's address. Barely twenty-four hours later, he makes timing indeed! He rings at her family house right when she barely had the time to put on her veil after coming out of her bath. Her regular, chestnut colored haired self was exposed. I don't need to tell you that he immediately began to court her and he continued visiting her for months, around ten times."

"Ten times!" Sekmeth whistled. "Most gods or goddesses pursue a mortal through four visits and later ditch! Loki must have really been into Evangeline!"

"The tenth visit was actually the longest," Aaricia nodded. "It was in May 1920 when Evangeline revealed her discovery of her pregnancy. Loki knew the divine laws, but... well... he totally ignored them."

"He tried to stay," the lioness shook her head. "He knew he shouldn't have. How long did he stay?"

"That's the part I'm not sure of," Aaricia said guilty. "Like I said, everyone I knew had a different interpretation of how Loki ended up leaving Evangeline after Kory came. So far the best conclusion I can make is that Loki stayed longer than he should have when Kory was born, Odin ordered him to return to Asgard and leave his mortal family on Midgard, and oddly enough, Evangeline took the break up very well."

"Took the break up very well?" Wanda asked.

"Yeah, sometimes mortals aren't very good at moving on with their divine dating failures. Either they domestically abuse the demigod kids, tell them their other parent is a jackass, resort to alcoholism, or die leaving the kids orphans."

"There's also the occasional complaints of not making the mortal lovers immortal," Sekmeth pointed out.

"Kory said that her mother didn't dwell so much on her past relationship. She never told Kory that her father was Loki. Heck, when Kory learned about her heritage and did research on her parents' relationship, she found out that Evangeline's first theory of Odin ordering Loki to come home was that he didn't approve of her religion."

"Kory's mom thought that Odin didn't like the idea of Loki dating a Jewish woman?" Falcon frowned. "How does that make any sense?"

"It was Europe in the 20th century," Aaricia said flatly. "Almost all Europeans were antisemite and against mixed marriages. But Loki apparently reassured Evangeline that it wasn't because of religion but because of divine duties, and she took it well. Like she knew the relationship wouldn't last because of the time period they lived in."

"That is sad," Queen Ramonda said tearfully.

"Couldn't Loki just make Evangeline and Kory immortal?" Falcon asked. "I mean, why do the laws say that they can't raise their families? Is it taboo?"

"It's not about what's taboo, it's about fearing what might _happen_ ," Sekmeth explained. "Gods can't stay forever in the appearances they use when on Earth. The longer they stay for the sake of a relationship, their disguises soon dissolve and they must leave their lover for good before the latter dies."

"I remember now," Wanda said. "My parents used to tell me and my brother that gods cannot be looked upon in their natural glory. That's why they are depicted or appeared in different forms, like animals, sentient objects, or human appearances."

"Well it's a little different for Asgardians," Sekmeth nodded. "They use the energy of the Tree of Life to keep a permanent state of glory that doesn't incinerate mortals. Especially when they date mortals like Jane Foster or Evangeline Ikolson."

"Bad example would be Bacchus' mom," Aaricia said as she folded her napkin. "The jealous Juno or Hera puts her wrath on her husband's mortal princess by having her doubt Jupiter or Zeus is who he is. The guy ended up incinerating her when he had to show her a tiny fraction of his true glory."

"He could have just said no," Shuri pointed out.

"Bacchus' mom had him swear on the River Styx to give her whatever she asked and she wanted to see who he really was." The blonde sighed. "It's the catch with the River Styx oaths. For gods and demigods, it's a permanent promise like when mortals swear on the Bible. Many immortals I know do that oath to prove what they say is true unless they want to get struck by lightning."

The servants cleared the table and everyone prepared to make their way out right when Marion made her way back in the room.

"I just had Anubis on the phone," she said. "The Nimrod leader of GAMA wants us to attend the gathering at Nairobi."

"Shit!" Aaricia ignored Cap's policy in language.

"Three-quarters of the UN will be having their teeth against him," Hawkeye said.

"I hate to bust your bubble, but all nine Avengers are also demanded to be present at the gathering," Marion added. "It's a good thing hardly anyone in the government or anyone in the US knows who Spiderman is. Tony Stark managed to make sure that he doesn't go to Nairobi. Anubis dropped him off in New York."

"I'm confused." Sekmeth looked at the Avengers present in the room. "First, I'm told Spiderman is one of the Avengers and then he's labeled as a non-Avenger. What is he, an intern?"

"All we know is that he's from Queens, nothing more," Cap shook his head. "He's just a kid."

"He's hardly older than us," Marion remarked.

"What about Kory? Is she OK?" Aaricia crossed her fingers. "I don't want to face NU!"

"Relax, Aaricia." Marion patted her on the shoulder. "Kory's fine and you two weren't summoned for the gathering. But she and the other demigods have to do some quick business with Thor and one of his Asgardian buddies in the northern areas of Norway. Something about bringing pieces together. Oh, and get this! Apparently his grandpa rose from the Great Canyon to tell him about the upcoming gathering."

"Geb?" Sekmeth arched an eyebrow.

"Another Rapharion survived?" Wanda asked.

"Of course not! Geb is the reincarnation of the earth we walk in! He existed before the official rise of the Rapharions and their city. He's like the Egyptian version of Gaia."

"Isn't he also the dad of Osiris, Isis, Nephtys, and Seth?" Aaricia asked.

"Yes."

"And he's also the son of Ra... So he's also your brother..." Aaricia frowned and tapped her fingers on the nearest finger. "Marion, was Anubis accosted by anything sent by Seth?"

Marion shook her head.

"That doesn't sound right. Anubis was out there alone, in a place with zero population and a below threat vigilante. Seth has his Fourth Plague send clones of herself to deal with the others in Canada, but she doesn't show up in India or to Anubis. All the latter gets is his grandpa telling him what we know. Am I the only one who thinks this is a little too odd?"

"It may sound weird, but unlike his children, Geb never played favorites with his children or grandchildren. He treated each of them fairly, whether they were good or evil," Sekmeth said.

"Gee, Osiris should have thought of that," Marion muttered.

Aaricia snapped her fingers. "Marion, you're a genius!"

"What?"

"Back when we were catching up in GAMA, you were telling me that Seth had the crazy idea of bringing back his family because he has the power!"

"Because he _is_ crazy!"

"But think about it! We're talking a psycho who tried to kill his brother out of jealousy and for the guardian of the Eye of Ra position. He gets jailed, his wife has to go Persephone on him and later ditch him so that she can go to labor, and he kills her later. Centuries later, he's freed, kills everyone in the Rapharion pantheon and hatches a plan to use plagues to both take over the world and bring back his son to him with the artifact he needs to get his powers back. We also then find out that he still has his wife's casket.

"First three plagues attack Anubis, but on the fourth one he leaves him alone and Grandpa Geb suddenly shows up to tell Anubis about the gathering! We think Seth is just being evil and a bad dad, but what he are realizing right now is that he's _psychologically manipulating Anubis!_ "

"You mean he's tricking his son?" Falcon asked.

"Yes! The kid also happens to have been bullied by the other Rapharions primarily because he's Seth's kid! When he left to join the humans, Anubis has this constant need to prove to everyone that he wants to do the right thing and that he isn't like his dad."

"Aside from the thing with the plagues, it's true that he was bad at breaking rules," Sekmeth said. "Continue."

"Seth must now that it's Anubis' Achilles' heel! The constant need to do the right thing to show he's a good guy! Then, Seth sends in his plagues, Anubis screws up when it comes to stopping them, and then when he's alone and not directly contributing, the others fail. Two days later, everyone at the gathering will reproach Anubis and tell him he's just as bad as his dad and they'll start chasing him to cage him as if he was an animal. All Seth then has to do is pull a few more strings and Anubis will be crushed."

"Aaricia, are you _implying_ that Seth hopes that Anubis will just go to him willingly?" Marion asked crossly.

"Yes! Anubis will end up devastated. He's going to end up in delusions about how his foster family abused him, the other gods bullied him, the humans hate him, and his friends can't trust him anymore. Then he'll end up surrendering to Seth, who's going to all: 'See, the so-called good guys mistreat you. Stay where you belong, with your true family. I'll bring your mother back to life and the three of us will rule the world as the only Rapharion monarchs with the Eye of Ra!'" Aaricia took a deep breath. "So yeah, I'd say that Seth is very much trying to manipulate Anubis into making the evil version of the former ruling family of the Rapharions."

"By Ra, she's right!" Sekmeth gasped. "The Eye of Ra can't be usurped but given and the guardian of the Eye is supposed to be the true ruler of the Rapharions! Osiris never wanted to admit it in public, but that means that it's his nephew Anubis who's supposed to succeed him and not his son Horus! If Seth does go through with his plan, Anubis will be handing him over his heritance!"

"Should I tell Anubis about it?" Marion asked Cap.

"Just the necessary, but make sure he's prepared and doesn't get ticked at the gathering," Cap said.

"My lab can offer you supplies in case you face danger," Shuri made her way out of the room. Cap and the other anti-Accords Avengers followed her.

"Marion, I know you don't hear this a lot from the others, but you really have to get Anubis to break out of his reserved self so that you can go past the friend zone," Aaricia told her friend as she picked up Fjordson.

"You approve?" Marion was surprised.

"Hey, he's gonna need someone to care for him. Last thing we need is for something bad to happen to him before the gathering."

 _Meanwhile, in DC_

Zoë drove the van from the airport after she and Bonnie picked up Anubis, Maui, and Barnes. They were now on their way to the GAMA headquarters in DC.

"Last time I was in DC, I was ordered to assassinate Nick Fury," Barnes said it casually as if he was a mere tourists saying that the last time he came was to go to the National Gallery.

"Try not to assassinate anyone." Zoë tapped her fingers on the wheel. Her eyes avoided glancing at her parents' murdered sighting on the front passenger seat. Meanwhile, in the back of the van, Bonnie played cards with Maui.

"Can you believe that Zola predicted that the divine immigration organizations would just conflict with one another without having HYDRA lift a finger?" Bonnie picked a card.

"You want my opinion?" Maui asked.

"Sure."

"It's another one of those bullshit games life throws at us. You think you're playing one game, but it turns out you're part of another person's game. Everyone's a pawn. Nature's pawn is Fate. Fate's pawns are gods. Gods' pawns are mortals. And mortals' pawns are other mortal. We're all pawns that they use to wipe off the obstacles on the board, uncaring whether we lose our lives or humanities. The only essential thing for them is that we make room for a checkmate." Maui managed to get a full house.

"I see." Bonnie glanced at the spear wrapped in cloth relaxing behind Maui. "So where are you, Thor, Kory, and Bacchus meeting up? Hopefully you guys won't go back to Norway. I mean, with NU and all..."

"Thor's camp is far north, in a land so holy the Norns don't dare sacrilege its holiness. But Thor hasn't specified where we met. All we agreed is that Heimdall would fetch us using the powers of the Bifrost. That's why I'm going back to the GAMA headquarters. Heimdall will collect me at 10:30pm."

"Jolly." Anubis looked down at Geb's flute.

"Relax," Zoë tried to calm him. "Nothing bad will happen during the gathering in two days."

"That's what everyone thought back in 2016 when Zemo bombed the UN and had everyone think I was responsible. Even though my innocence was proved, the Avengers were still divided," Barnes said.

"HYDRA must have designed you to be too honest," Zoë said.

"You and Bonnie are lucky. The Science Division Leader chose someone else to tag along," Anubis growled.

"Actually, I am _very_ insulted," Zoë admitted as she took a left turn towards the bridge. "I risk my life to extract an Infinity Stone fragment out of evil tar and remove most of the Winter Soldier's brainwashing system!"

"To be fair, Andrew and Kelsie have done twice the amount of years of service then we did and they managed to revolutionize health care for immortals," Bonnie pointed out.

"Immortals need health care?" Barnes asked.

"Sometimes they don't find the right medicine they need in every mortal hospital. And since Kelsie is a kelpie, she can swim as deeply as necessary to collect enough Colchis Kelp to make ten years' worth of medicine."

"Ironic. Man-drowning ponies providing seaweed medicine," Zoë grumbled.

"Personally, I thought you were hot," Barnes said.

Zoë blushed viciously. Bonnie and Maui chuckled as the van pulled in onto the National Mall.

"Hey, Zoë! Remember that time when I flew to the top of the Washington Monument?" Bonnie asked as they caught sight of the Washington Monument approaching.

"You mean the time when I told you to not fly in the sky during the Fourth of July?" Zoë said. "The fireworks burned your left arm."

Just then, something hit the road and made an impact on the van. The vehicle went flying and crashed upside down. The passengers inside took a while to order their aching limbs to unfasten their seatbelts. Maui ripped the wall open and stepped out to help the others get out. Many passerbys were either screaming or doing the usual photo shooting.

"What the Hell was that?" Zoë exclaimed as Barnes helped her stand.

"For one, I am not responsible for that," he said.

Anubis walked towards the thing that sent the van flying. The smoke cleared, revealing a golden khopesh as long as his arm and as thick as his head.

Maui was shocked to see the size of the thing. "My fishhook isn't even that big!" He leaned and noticed the gold's tiny white carvings of the sun, the moon, and diverse eyes. "I take it back. Mine's more good looking."

"For once, I wish Geb lied to me," Anubis groaned.

The moon crescent on top of the Washington Monument suddenly turned into a full moon and brightened the National in a rather blinding light.

"Show off!" Anubis shouted. "You're supposed to be modest, son of Osiris!"

As if hearing Anubis' insult, the light cleared. Helicopters had come flying in the air and were now aiming lights at the god who stood at the peak of the Washington Monument. He then jumped down to the earth and created a shaking crater under his feet. As the smoke cleared, everyone saw the face of the god. He looked like Antonia Aakeel wearing a golden Egyptian scale armor with the scales shaped like feathers. Whatever bare skin he had was covered with scars, nearly making him look like a tiger. His feet had golden palm leaf sandals and his hands were protected by fingerless golden gauntlets. A good thing, because now everything could see his finger and toenails shaped like black bird claws, making him look like he had actual talons. Like his armor, his white cape was made of layers of feathers, which is why he looked like he was swooping down from the Monument. He would have looked like a hot movie actor to the core if it weren't for the fact that his left eye was covered by some kind of indigo clay with an Egyptian Eye carved on it. It now made him look more like a combination of Aakeel and an Egyptian version of Nick Fury.

"Horus," Maui realized out loud who the god was.

"Isn't he supposed to be dead?" Zoë frowned.

"Sadly no." Anubis pulled out his ankh scepter.

"Are you mad? You can't fight your cousin in public!"

"Knowing him, he's going to charge and try to kill me because it's the right thing to do to save the world."

Anubis said it so casually, but he wasn't wrong. Horus held his hand up and the giant khopesh flew right back to him.

The cousins then charged at one another.

Bonnie shouted at the civilians to go home.


	17. Horus

Chapter 17: Horus

The gold of Anubis' ankh scepter and Horus' khopesh had a clash creating literal sparks. Anubis swung his scepter at Horus, only for the falcon god to kick Anubis right in the stomach and use his khopesh to bat his cousin up in the sky. Horus' cape flapped like actual bird wings and flew to continue beating Anubis, who used his claws to cling to the Washington Monument. Because their fight was creating a shower of sparks, Maui held out his hands and used the water from the nearest fountains to wash out the flames, making the grass fields too wet to burn.

Zoë pulled out a walkie-talkie. "Team Banshee to GAMA headquarters. We got a Code Loki at the National Mall. A rogue god is assaulting the Nimrod agent Anubis! Bring reinforcements as soon as possible!" Zoë hung up.

"Code Loki?" Barnes asked.

"Code for 'mayhem caused by family disputes'," Zoë said.

"Gotcha."

Meanwhile, on the Washington Monument, Anubis turned into his jackal form and climbed up to the peak of the obelisk. He jumped and forced Horus back to gravity. Luckily or unluckily, depending on the sides, Horus morphed into a falcon and flew out of the way, leaving Anubis to have a full-blown crash.

"Guys, Anubis didn't put the magical force field on the area," Bonnie said. "If these guys keep going on, they might tear half of DC!"

"We'd better chain down that bird." Barnes searched through the van until he settled for a GAMA dart gun in the glove compartment. "Zoë, stay by the van until reinforcements show. Bonnie, destabilize Horus and Anubis. Maui, once Horus is distracted, you keep him down. Once you have him secured, I'll tranquilize him with the darts."

"Do the darts work on immortals?" Maui asked.

"Why do you think it's in a GAMA glove compartment?" Zoë asked sarcastically.

"I'll take that as a yes, then."

Bonnie morphed into her regular banshee appearance and landed between Anubis and Horus before the latter tried to peck his cousin on the jackal areas. She took a deep breath and wailed. As you all know, banshees aren't known for having pop sensation voices. Their ghastly wails are usually reserved for funerals. But their voices vary depending on the regions the banshees come from, and Bonnie, as an eastern banshee, had by far the worst. To make a long description, her wailing sounded like a bad recipe involving cacophonic opera singing, ten thousand women of all ages wailing, cars screeching, and light bulbs exploding. To make the description shorter, Bonnie's banshee wails were so terrible, it was hard for GAMA to cover up all the broken Iphone screens in the District of Columbia that went all the way to Friendship Heights.

Horus was the most sensitive to the sounds. The moment Anubis saw Bonnie taking a breath, he immediately ran to dig a hole and bury himself underground. Horus covered his ears and fell on his knees, screaming and oblivious to Maui lassoing him with his hook.

"I'll surrender if the banshee stops!" Horus begged before Barnes could even shoot him with a dart. Barnes nodded to Bonnie and she immediately stopped wailing. While she morphed back into her human appearance, Zoë tightened a pair of GAMA handcuffs on Horus.

"Remind me to never take you to Wakanda," Anubis told Bonnie.

 _Later, in GAMA_

They had placed Horus in an interrogation cell. Maui had left thanks to Heimdall. Well aware that the pro-Accords Avengers and Tiresias were listening through the security system, Anubis took care of Horus' interrogation. The first thing that Horus did was naturally to charge, only for Anubis to use a taser remote on Horus. The falcon god shook from the electricity he received.

"Fun toy, isn't it? Thor showed me some of the cool stuff he brought back from the place where he lost his hair," Anubis said smugly before turning off the taser and letting his cousin breathe. "Are you finally going to talk like a civilized person?"

"Well, I'm more of a civilized god..." Horus said proudly until Anubis slapped him on the left cheek. Horus was shocked. "How dare..."

"I can't believe you're here!" Anubis snapped. "I went to the West since nobody would dare going to find me in forbidden land, but your presence is a new one! Knowing you, you'd have stayed in Egypt to protect the others from Seth!"

"I _did_ stay on Egypt!" Horus snapped.

"Really? Then by the River Styx, you'd better be telling me the truth if you don't want me to bring back Bonnie the Eastern Banshee!"

Horus shook in fear. He sighed in defeat. "I did stay in Egypt. I wanted to fight against Seth the moment his presence was sensed approaching our city's gates. But Father Osiris ordered me against it. He told me that I must flee to spare myself, since we were as defenseless as ants under a boot without the Eye of Ra protecting us. I did as he asked, but I couldn't leave Egypt. So I took refuge in the ruins of the Great Library in Alexandria..."

"Reminds me of how Thoth cried when the Roman and Muslim invaders turned it into a loss of knowledge," Anubis rolled his eyes. "Then what?"

"I accidentally found out that the ruins of the Great Library actually held the Pharaohs Intervention."

"Egypt's divine immigration organization." Anubis crossed his arms. "Knowing you, they must have given you asylum rather than offering you to join them."

"You really adore jumping into negative conclusions about me," Horus scowled.

"No, I just happen to think the worst of you because you bullied me as a child," Anubis said. "Keep going."

"I was very much welcomed by the Pharaohs Intervention since I am a god to their country's mythology, but because of their 'constitution', they didn't make a big deal." Horus said it so unpleasantly. After all, he was pretty much Thor without the character development. Horus still expected mortals to treat him as the god he is. "Their organization's leader is a descendant of Seshat, Thoth's consort in knowledge and writings. She let me hide at her parent's household in Cairo, where I stayed and kept an eye on the Pyramid of Giza. I observed as much as I could and had my falcon friends fly to inspect when I needed rest. Finally, after a year, Seth showed up. One of organization's agents, an oddly young boy named Hasani, was among the humans who visited Giza and managed to hide while Seth turned the tourists into his slaves. I went back to their headquarters and Hasani and the leader personally told me that Seth was after you..."

"You're a few days late on the intel," Anubis scowled. "We already know what Seth wants. The Eye of Ra, which will grant him his full body and powers. Recreating his own version of my plagues so that he can mark the world and destroy all of the firstborns. Reincarnating Nephtys..."

"Reincarnating Nephtys?"

"Yeah, Grandfather Geb stopped by to let me know that not only did you and a few Rapharions survive, but apparently Seth used the body of one of my friends' girlfriend to bring back to life Nephtys. And yes, I know, it doesn't make sense since Seth murdered Nephtys." Anubis sighed and pulled out his GAMA walkie-talkie. "Well, interrogation's over. I'll make sure that Tiresias finds you a nice asylum under surveillance."

"I'm sorry, what?" Horus got up.

"He's good to go," Anubis spoke in the walkie-talkie. "May I recommend our most comfortable asylum houses in Alaska?"

"You are mad to think that I would just stay in one of these fifty regions while you deal with the barbarian who murdered our kind!"

" _Your_ kind." Anubis pointed at Horus, which startled the latter. "Let's be honest, I never was and never will be one of you. You, Osiris, and the other Rapharions except Mother Isis made it clear that I was nothing more than Seth's child. My only reason for taking part in this war is because I want Seth out of my life. The only parent I have is Isis. Once the war is over, I'm staying where I belong. With the mortals in America."

"You're mad!" Horus repeated and grabbed Anubis by the collar. "What have the mortals done to you, making you, a god, believe yourself equal to them?"

"It's America, cousin. Get used to it." Anubis walked out right when Nimrod agents came to collect Horus. "Hope the cold weather in Alaska cools your ego."

 _Minutes later_

Anubis inserted a five-dollar bill into the vending machine and took his cup of caffeinated nectar (yeah, they do those things in divine immigration organizations).

"Was sending your cousin to Alaska the best idea?" Rhodey asked while sitting in one of the comfy blue sofas of the GAMA break room.

"I'm not as insane as Loki, but I don't easily forgive either." Anubis sat on the couch facing Rhodey. "I like to think of what I did as a way of Horus to pay back for the years of tormenting me. Knowing that Rapharions can't stand the cold, he's going to have to change quickly." Anubis noticed Rhodey's concerned look. "What?"

"I've been wondering what kind of plague I might have to face. You know, Cap had the River Nile turning into blood, Vision had frogs, Natasha had lice, and... you know, I'm not even sure that the Fourth Plague was meant for Sam."

"What makes you say that?"

"Remember how we were told that the Fourth Plague turned herself into three copies and spread towards the direction of the bad gods? Only the ones in Mexico and Canada were spotted, but the one heading to India was nowhere. Kory and Scott didn't spot it. It can only mean two things: either Seth knew that Kali wasn't locked up anymore or he wanted the Fourth Plague to go elsewhere. The copy could have gone to Wakanda, where Sam was, the same way Amphibian showed up in Wakanda was because Vision came, but the Fourth Plague didn't. What if the Fourth Plague was hiding and waiting to strike?"

"You might have a point." Anubis put down his cup on the coffee table and played with his fingers. The liquid flew into the air and split into golden shapes that formed symbols of the remaining plagues. "The only plagues left before the death of the firstborns are the death of the livestock, boils, hail, locust, and darkness. Include the Fourth Plague, the Avengers who have yet to be contaminated are you, Sam, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, and Wanda. I still don't know if Spiderman counts as an Avenger."

 _I personally hope not_ , he thought.

"Bonnie theorized that Banner, Thor, and Tony would be targeted for the boils, hail, and firstborn," Rhodey said. Anubis did a few more tricks to add the heads of the Avengers matching the plagues.

"I personally think that Wanda would be targeted by locusts," Anubis admitted.

"Why?"

"Locusts were seen as dangerous when they gather in a swarm and kill off crops," Anubis explained. "Wanda can be rather unpredictable when her powers are gathered in a mass."

"I can understand that." Rhodey nodded. "That leaves out the Fourth Plague of flies, livestock, and darkness. What if I am the Fourth Plague's target?"

"It would make sense, but how do flies challenge War Machine context wise? Do you ever swat regular flies?"

"Not really. Maybe Clint could be the target since flies are harder to pin with arrows."

"I thought darkness would go with Hawkeye since darkness would keep him from having a good view of his target, but he could have night vision goggles." He paused. "Maybe you are the target for the Fifth Plague, the death of livestock. Not to be offensive, but you were close to the equivalent of dead meat when you got paralyzed."

Rhodey scowled. "Gee, thanks."

 _Back in Wakanda_

Marion and Aaricia had to wait close to two hours until the Avengers could receive supplies from Shuri before coming for their turn. After the Wakandan hovercraft dropped them off by the scientific lab, the girls were escorted into an elevator that went down to the lab. The first thing they couldn't keep themselves from doing was rushing towards the tall window exposing the glowing mines full of vibranium.

"Man, the Science Division of GAMA would be so jealous!" Marion said.

Shuri came in. "I see you admire our mines."

"Very much, Your Highness." Marion nodded. "So, what do you propose for us for Nairobi?"

Shuri nodded. She moved a finger, urging the girls to follow her. She guided them through a table of vibranium technologies. "Basic communication devices," Shuri handed them the devices to place behind their ears, "and kimoyo beads. As for you, agent Romanson." Shuri picked up from the table what looked like a simple black ring. Marion was about to comment until Shuri did a demonstration by slipping the ring on Marion's finger. The vibranium disassembled to solidify into a regular-sized, black crossbow.

"What the..." Marion was stunned.

"The nanites in the vibranium can disassemble and reform into a physical weapon. The ring can also project holograms that give you a perfect aim on your target." Shuri explained and pointed at a nearby dummy. "Try giving it a shot."

"Anywhere?"

"Anywhere."

Marion held up the crossbow. As Shuri said, the ring projected a holographic screen in front of Marion's face, showing potential targets on the dummy as if this were a video game. Marion mentally chose the liver area and a golden arrow immediately appeared in place. She let the string go and the arrow flew right at the area she wanted.

"Way to go, Marion!" Aaricia clapped her hands.

"Wow. Handy," Marion looked at her ring in amazement.

"Yes, the ring can also assure that the arrow doesn't miss its target." Shuri nodded.

"It's not lethal though, is it? I mean, what would happen if I hit a person?"

"It would just neutralize the organ you hit." Shuri looked back at the dummy and joked. "Though judging by where you hit, the dummy would have to be hospitalized."

Marion quickly thanked for the ring and had the crossbow dissolve. Shuri moved on to Aaricia and proceeded to show her an assortment of swords lying on the table. "Okoye told me that you know how to handle a sword, whether it's for a fight or to trick an opponent."

Aaricia pondered as she looked at the diverse blades. "I need to use that is practical for both fighting and cunning. I can't kill, but I need a sharp blade. I wonder if vibranium is close to uru..."

"Uru?" Shuri frowned.

"It's a space metal. The Asgardians use it to make their weapons. Each Nimrod Division in the Scandinavian League has weapons made of uru. Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, was made of that metal. Kory said that depending on the owner of an Uru weapon, the metal acts as a massive conduct for the owner's supernatural powers. I even saw a footage of Cap and Thor purposely clashing their vibranium shield and Uru hammer together to create a explosive vibration shockwave that knocked out HYDRA."

"Hm. I do not believe we have uru, but I believe we have a sub-mineral composite found in vibranium that makes an excellent electric conduct." Shuri walked to the window and tapped on a keypad on the wall. A rectangular lid popped open, revealing a hidden compartment. A Kaskara sword rested on fancy blue pillows. Aaricia's eyes glimmered while light reflected on the sword's pure silver-like appearance. Its grip was made out of blue leather and had white Wakandan writing on it.

" _Iindudumo_ ," Shuri spoke in Wakanda. She took the sword from the compartment and presented it to Aaricia. She then spoke in English, "In Wakandan, it's name means 'the thunderous blade'. It was an ancient relic, wielded by the only Black Panther born outside of the royal wedlock."

"You mean he was a commoner?" Marion asked.

"No. His father was king of Wakanda, but his mother was Oya, a lightning goddess. When her son became Black Panther, she gave him Iindudumo and he became the only Black Panther to wield a sword capable of fighting off the unwanted intruders back in the 14th century."

"Your Highness, are you sure this isn't risky to give a royal Wakandan artifact to a foreigner?" Marion asked cautiously. "I mean, wouldn't it be best to consult your brother?"

"My lab, my decision," Shuri shrugged. "Besides, what need does my brother need in weapons when he has the power of the Black Panther? Also, that sword has been sitting in the lab for centuries, the scientists are getting tired of cleaning it every ten years."

"If this some ancestral relic, why isn't it, I don't know, in a gallery in the palace or a treasure room?"

"An incident occurred in the 16th century when colonizers began to invade Africa. You see, when the 14th century Black Panther got the sword, he primarily used it for fighting. It was only when fighting off the first white intruders in Wakanda that the 16th century Black Panther realized its capacities," Shuri explained. "It was a stormy day, and when the colonizers nearly had the Black Panther surrounded, a bolt of lighting struck the sword and its contact with the sub-mineral caused a chain reaction that struck the enemies hearts."

"Like Benjamin Franklin with the kite experiment?" Aaricia suggested.

"Exactly! The relic's unexpected 'shock'," Shuri joked, "led to the scientists at the time to study the sub-mineral even more and Wakanda managed to create its first electrical engineering system."

"Man, we are _so_ two centuries behind!"

"I can confirm that," Shuri chuckled.

Two Dora Milaje soldiers came in and bowed to Shuri. "Princess," one of them said. "Your brother the king is returning with the other Avengers and the representatives of the Gods And Men Association to prepare for the gathering in Nairobi."

"That will be a lot of company," Marion commented.

Shuri placed the sword back in the compartment in a hurry and the girls followed, too rushed to notice that the sword was making a weird buzzing sound. A few minutes later, they made it to the main docking field. Everyone got out of the hovercraft just fine.

"How are you recovering?" Marion asked Natasha.

"Louse's hallucinations are no different than the ones Wanda gave me back when she was with Ultron," Natasha said quietly. Despite her professionally cleaned up look, she still looked awfully tired. Even though the GAMA medics had given her much attention and healing, she was worn out.

"These are the representatives of GAMA's Science Division," the female scientific leader did the introductions while Rogers the Nimrod Division leader helped Tiresias walk with his stick out. "Andrew Kowalski and Kelsie."

"Dr. Hazelfields and Bonnie didn't make the cut, huh?" Cap guessed as he shook hands with Andrew.

"It might have been for the best," Andrew said while straightening his reading glasses over his grey eyes. "Tiresias predicted that things wouldn't work out well if the regular governmental representatives realized that we had Erskine's granddaughter working for us. They'd probably think that the US were secretly hoarding the super-soldier serum."

"Besides, she has Barnes to babysit!" Kelsie snorted to the point that her laughter sounded like a horse's neighing. Though Andrew reassured Cap that Kelsie was a jokester due to her kelpie nature, Cap couldn't help but mentally wish that Erskine's granddaughter and the banshee had the place.

"And these are our best agents in the Registration Division," the female scientific leader concluded. "Ben and Asubakacin, or Asu for short."

"Pleased to meet you," Ben shook hands with all the Avengers.

"Are you a Native American?" Sam asked just like that when they shook hands.

"I get that a lot," Ben shrugged. "My father's Chinese-American from Maryland, but my mother's family is from an Ojibwe tribe."

"What about Asu?" Falcon asked. He looked at Asu, who looked like he could be Ben's identical twin except his skin was pale blue, his eyes moving like rotating round stained glasses, and his clothing made of loose blue threads that moved on their own in order to intertwine with one another.

"Asu is my dreamcatcher spirit."

"Like the circle thing that they sell in souvenir shops?" Tony asked.

"You're really primitive," Marion scowled. "Dreamcatchers were originally crafted by the Ojibwe to repel bad dreams. Also, it happens when immortal spirits decide to become the spiritual protectors of a household. They teach their protégées how to build sacred objects that will give birth to the next line of spiritual household protectors."

"It is what happened with my Ojibwe family," Ben nodded proudly. "The spirits taught my ancestors how to build a dreamcatcher. Everytime someone in my family builds one, the spirit is born and becomes their protector." Ben searched through his blouse's collar and pulled out a necklace bearing a small dreamcatcher made of beads, blue threads, and small feathers. "I was ten when I made this and Asubakacin sprung out. Ever since then, I never had bad dreams in my sleep." He gave a proud handhold with Asu. "He can read minds and dreams, but he does it with such great analysis. The Registration Division leader came to our house himself when he heard of the talents of Asubakacin."

Speaking of the devil, Asu stiffened and his eyes spun in a hypnotizing fashion. " _Anubis is frustrated by Horus not leaving him alone._ "

"You know I hate that!" Anubis shouted from where he was, away from the crowd and watching the distant horizon full of mountains.

"He can't help it," Ben said.

" _Tony Stark wonders if he and Pepper Potts will ever marry and have children._ "

"Seriously, who injected truth serum in him?" Tony groaned.

" _Seth is pleased with the message he has for the gathering. The Midgard Serpent is feeling tortured by moving southward. Quetzalcoatl is desperate to shed the blood of the Chosen One destined to slay him. Thor is focused watching the demigods and Heimdall forge the Chosen One's weapon with gifts of gods. Kali is sadistic with her perfect human disguise. Sedna seeks revenge of her unrequited love interest and jailer. The Fourth Plague leaves to target the hero the Avengers suspect least. The remains are agitating as only Quetzalcoatl can bring to life the final plague._ "

"Easy there," Ben took hold of Asu, who nearly fainted. "C'mon, you need to rest."

"Hang on," Tony said. "Can he quickly repeat what he just said?"

"No. Once he sees a thought or dream, he only says it once. Otherwise he'll get overwhelmed."

"I think I heard most of what he said," Aaricia raised a hand. "Apparently, Seth plans a surprise for the Nairobi gathering, Kory's half-brother is going south, Quetzalcoatl wants to kill someone fated to kill him, Kory, Bacchus, and Maui are creating a weapon, Kali's hidden as a human, Sedna wants to get revenge on the guy who locked her up _and_ for whom she had or has an unrequited crush, the Fourth Plague is after its target, and Seth needs Quetzalcoatl to bring to life the tenth plague."

"You managed to understand that much?" Rhodey asked.

"Hey, I live with three trickster demigods, my guardian is the kid of the God of Mischief, and I used to work for the psychotic Norns. Hearing and translating visions or lies is like a third hobby to me."

"Then what are hobbies two and one?"

"Playing sports with Frost giants and manipulating adults."

Nearly everyone stared at her with blank eyes. "Sometimes I worry about you," Marion said.

Anubis said nothing. He kept staring at the horizon. Just outside the border, he saw a large falcon flying around. He didn't even need to have supervision to know; the Soul Stone indicated him the presence of Horus. His annoying cousin had managed to slip away while being taken to Alaska and must have followed the hovercraft to Wakanda. But why he didn't go through was a complete mystery.

While the mortals continued discussing, Sekmeth walked up to him. She stood there and looked at what he was looking. "Horus survived, huh?"

"Not really a shocking discovery. Geb told me a few Rapharions survived Seth's attack. Aside from Horus, there's Hathor, Sobek, Hapi, and Ptah." He left out the part of Mother Isis.

Sekmeth had a look if insecure comfort at the mention of her ex-boyfriend surviving. "I guess not the best is left out of our once great race."

"Let's face it, Sekmeth, gods are plunging into extinction," Anubis shrugged matter-of-factly. "The Asgardians just went through Ragnarok, now there's only six Rapharions, and most of the other existing gods are either hiding or evil. It's probably best that we remain in the dark."

"I've remained that way for a long time, but with the people of Wakanda brought me light in my life." Sekmeth nodded. "Mortals might not need us, but they know how to make us feel wanted and belonging. Maybe you ought to give that a shot."

Anubis briefly turned his head to look at Marion conversing with Aaricia. He had to agree with Sekmeth: Marion did make him feel like he'd belong.

"But I can't hurt her," he told Sekmeth in worry.

"I'm a bloodthirsty goddess of war," Sekmeth pointed out, "and I managed to live in serenity without even turning Wakanda into a cemetery of human warfare and sacrifices. You lived with Marion for a year now. You know she loves you more than just a friend, but the only way you hurt her is by renouncing you do share those feelings mutually."

 _Meanwhile, at the Asgardian refuge_

Kory, Maui, and Bacchus stared silently at the forged weapon that Heimdall placed on the table. It was an arm-long sword, its blade made out of the lead of Bellerophon's spear, the pommel was the red gem from Tzira Khan's scepter, and the grip was the melted leftovers of the Ganesh necklace. Geb's flute's bailey had been used to glue everything together.

"For some reason, I'm not impressed," Bacchus said.

"The weapon gets stronger the more godly gifts it receives," Heimdall said. "A great advantage for this weapon would be the addition of Wakanda's thunderous blade, _Iindudumo._ "

"Great," Kory mumbled.

Maui helped Heimdall wrap up the sword. "We'll figure something out on the way," he said.

"I'll meet you outside to open the Bifrost for you," Heimdall said. "The king and I first need to have a word with Ikolson."

Kory frowned. Maui and Bacchus gave her quick 'good luck' glances and made their way out. Kory sighed and turned so that she could face her Uncle Thor, who had managed to sit and say nothing while they examined the weapon.

"Let me guess," she said, "Rogers told you."

"Captain America said nothing. I sensed the blood link myself," Thor spoke quietly. He didn't sound mad. "Kory, is it true? Your mortal partner... Aaricia. She's my descendant?"

"Time out. You _sensed_ it?" Kory was stunned.

"Gods can sense their own blood if it flows in a mortal's veins," Heimdall explained. "Even I sensed her essence. It is dormant with the power of Thor."

"And I wanted to thank you," Thor told Kory, "for taking good care of her."

This surprised Kory. She did not expect that kind of gratitude from the gods. "Oh. Um, you're welcome?"

"The only thing that confuses us is why you haven't told her of her heritage," Heimdall said in concern.

"No way!" Kory snapped. "I swore when I took her in that I'd try to give her a normal life, regardless of what NU inflicted on her! I raised her, tutored her, and cared for her as if she were my sister of my own flesh! The Norns wanting to send her to slay my brother was the last straw! I refuse to let one of the only to beings I care most be destroyed!"

"She won't be," Thor got up to reassure her. "But the problem is Quetzalcoatl. Kory, Heimdall saw Quetzalcoatl being told by Seth that Aaricia was destined to slay him if she succeeded in slaying Jormugand."

"As we are speaking, Quetzalcoatl has succeeded in corrupting your brother to go south," Heimdall said grimly. "He'll be in Nairobi precisely on the da of the gathering."

"No..." Kory cupped her hands over her mouth. Thor placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Aaricia needs to be protected," Thor said, "which is why Heimdall and I think it would be best if you and Aaricia stay with the Asgardians here?"

"It would be wise," Heimdall agreed. "After all, if Thor dies, his bloodline must succeed the throne, and Aaricia is his only living descendant."

Kory wiped her eyes. "It's not a bad idea, but we have a problem. Loki."


	18. Family Problems

Chapter 18: Family Problems

"It's not a bad idea, but we have a problem. Loki."

Kory said those words bluntly when she noticed that Loki himself had frozen in his tracks in the hallway and spotted his brother and Heimdall speaking with his demigod daughter.

"Would you excuse us?" She politely asked Thor and Heimdall. "I have a father to verbally murder."

The two gods wasted no time to walk away. Kory tapped her fingernails bitterly on the table, making it sound like water dripping onto a floor of ice. Loki actually gulped as he stepped into the room.

Yes, if there was only one thing that scared the God of Mischief more than the Hulk, it was his demigod offspring.

"He..." Loki began.

"I see my lionfish moat has failed to teach you to leave me alone," Kory cut him off coldly. "What were you thinking, bringing the Tesseract into _my_ house when my evil personality would steal it out of your slimy pockets?"

"I had to preserve the Infinity Stone," Loki said.

"Right, I forgot your empty promise to Thanos." Kory scowled. "I forgot that your endless pursuit to be better than uncle Thor meant more than your own children."

"Kory, you know why I couldn't be there for you after you were born," Loki tried to remain poised. "I swear on the River Styx, I stayed longer than I should have until Odin reminded me."

"And when you weren't listening to Odin?" Kory pointed an angry finger at him, she could have poked him in the eye. "You know perfectly that you have no excuses. You're the God of Mischief, you've broken every single rule to manipulate Asgard but the laws of mortal offspring were certainly not among the list! Did you even bother to consider freeing Jormugand, who could have just terrorized the humans for you into submission rather than relying on the forces of Thanos? Did you even bother to force me into becoming your heir when you took over the kingdom? Did you even consider saving my mother before that wall hit her years ago? No. You did none of it. You just wanted Odin to approve of you! Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if you'd be ashamed in having children like me and Jormugand the same way Odin never wanted a Frost Giant on the throne!"

Loki took a deep breath. "You're right."

Kory frowned. "What?"

"I've no excuses for myself," Loki sat down on the nearest chair. "Odin and the others were suspicious of me bearing a monstrous serpent, so they had Jormugand imprisoned to circle the Earth. I did not dare to oppose Odin since he hated having his authority questioned. I met your mother... and I never imagined that she'd intrigue me to the point where I'd stay longer than I should have until Odin forced me back to reality."

"That your immortality mattered more?" She scowled.

"No. That I could never be the father you and your brother wanted."

This hit Kory with surprise. She did not expect him to say that.

"Besides, what do I have to offer?" Loki added. "If I had you join my forces in the past, the mortals' hatred would have been lashed harder on you and your good terms with my brother and Heimdall is the only thing keeping the other Asgardians from ostracizing you. The only form of fitting life I could possible provide you is a normal one... in which you hated me and grew more independent by pushing me out of it."

Kory bit her lip. Her expression was hard to read. Was she angry? Understanding? Confused? All that was certain was that she walked up to Loki, slapped him on the face, and walked away without a word. She ran into Thor and Heimdall, who were waiting outside.

"I'm guessing you're not staying," Heimdall concluded.

"After all this crap I just went through, it's not worth bringing Aaricia here." They decided to go out into the vast Norwegian fields where the Asgardians took refuge.

"Perhaps we could place Aaricia in another location," Thor told his niece. "Maybe she could just stay in Wakanda until the gathering's over?"

"I don't know. Wakanda may be good at keeping away _mortal_ intruders, but it didn't stop the second plague from attacking," Kory said.

"What about the temple of the Mystic Arts?" Heimdall suggested. "They have an impeccable security."

"Heimdall, I'm aware of the 2016 Dormammu attack." Kory asked. "And even if the temple didn't work, I couldn't have Dr. Strange babysit Aaricia in his house. If NU was able to send an agent while Aaricia was alone in DC, what are the odds that another one will come in New York?"

"Good point." Thor grimaced.

"The Norns must have planned this well," Heimdall said, "purposely ensuring that nowhere would be safe for Aaricia on her own."

"Well then we just need to put her with someone by her side!" Kory raised her hands in frustration. "I mean, who do we know that no one would expect a descendant of Thor to be with?"

"I can offer a recommendation!"

Kory, Thor, and Heimdall yelped and jumped back. The ground where they stood on two seconds ago morphed into the face of Geb.

"Lord Geb," Heimdall greeted the Rapharion of the Earth. "At least you didn't turn into your giant self! The refugees wouldn't take it well!"

"I apologize!" Geb reduced his booming shouting to a shout the size of a mouse squeal. The Asgardians and the demigoddess had to kneel down to better hear Geb. "I know how important it is to you, Thor, hiding your descendant during the gathering! Thus, I've come with a proposition for an area to hide the young lady! The location is off limits for even the Scandinavian League AND there's zero chances that either her or Jormugand would die!"

Kory arched her eyebrows. "I'm listening."

"Sh! I can't tell you where it is! You don't know who is listening!"

"Oh right."

Geb closed his eyes. As if done by an invisible finger, a sketch began to appear on the earth. The outlines drew themselves to create a rather familiar monument.

"Got it."

"Anubis has a friend in that area! He sent the friend to look at another very close friend! I can take the girl from her current location to the new one and Anubis' friends can keep an eye on her!"

"And with that location being so far apart from Nigeria, there's no way that my brother can get in trouble. If Aaricia's not present to confront him by the time her sixteenth birthday passes, they'll both be safe!"

"True! But be warned! Your mortal may have lived with demigod tricksters, but she has her ancestor's sense in sibling love, her strongest love that she has for you, daughter of Loki! If in any way the girl finds out you are in trouble should Seth and the evil gods attack, she will not hesitate to leave the secured location and she will be exposed to the Midgard Serpent! I'll see you in Wakanda!" To that, the face of Geb disappeared back into the Earth.

"I'm going to get Bacchus and Maui, we need to leave," Kory got up.

"It would be wise to give Aaricia the sword, just in case..." Heimdall said before Kory began to grab his cloak's collar.

"You'd better use your enhanced eyesight to keep an eye on Aaricia while we're in Nigeria! Otherwise, if Hela hasn't killed you yet, I will!"

"Warning taken." Heimdall moved on ahead of Kory and Thor.

"Your sense of over-protectiveness is rather threatening to anyone you interact," Thor told his niece. "I bet you'd be deadlier than my own mother."

"Ha, ha." Kory rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"There's still one thing that confuses me... You hate your father and generally criticize everything related to divine relations or affairs, yet you sacrifice almost every ounce of your life for Aaricia, who's not only my mortal descendant but technically your cousin. Why is that?"

Kory tapped her fingers on her arms. She sighed. "I just ignored what the Norns kept saying about her being your descendant. All I saw was another little girl whose life was ruined because the divinities said so..." She paused and looked unhappy. "But when I heard NU staged the incident so that the train car she was in would fall into a ravine and that she wouldn't stop crying... all I could think off was my mother getting crushed by a wall when HYDRA attacked our home... and I couldn't do anything when she died." She found a nearby rock to sat on and watch the waves crashing onto the rocks of the beach below the cliff they were standing on. "And what did our divine families do when it happened? They pretty much stayed home. Either they tried to play favorites with Odin or they were too busy playing superheroes on Earth or attracting mortal flings." She scowled to him at the last part. "So yeah, I pretty much disintegrate everything I have in me to give Aaricia whatever she could have from a normal life because I love her! Not like the self-absorbed from above!"

She went from looking rock solid angry to eventually breaking into tears. She leaned over and let her sobbing personality flood out a pool of tears. Her uncle said and did nothing, feeling that it would best to wait until his niece stopped crying and the cliff would get a new waterfall.

Both were unaware that Loki had been listening to their conversation and disappeared.

 _Back in Wakanda_

Anubis stood in his jackal form on the balcony while the Avengers and everyone else were either having dinner, training, or getting ready for the upcoming hearing. Too much was going on in his head. Also, Horus' falcon form didn't stop flying in the distance.

The door opened up. He turned his head, hoping that it wasn't Sekmeth coming to lecture him. Instead, it was Aaricia, carrying a platter with a cooked buffalo leg on it.

"Thought you might want something to eat. You didn't show up when they served it," she said.

Anubis licked his lips. The moment Aaricia put the platter down, the jackal god went on to eat the meat. He didn't rush through it, for he wanted to enjoy the spices that the royal Wakandan cooks had placed in the meat. His teeth ripped the flesh off the bone.

Aaricia squinted her eyes at the horizon and noticed the falcon flying around. "Horus isn't leaving you alone, huh?"

Anubis gave her a mere glance that said 'What do you think?' and continued to eat.

"I think it's weird that he hasn't put his foot in the city," Aaricia said. "I know you and your cousin aren't exactly in the friend zone, but don't you think he'd be barging in right now if he didn't care what you feel?"

Anubis stopped eating and looked confusingly at her. He gave her a 'What's your point?' look.

"Whatever's going with you and Horus... in an odd way, it kind of reminds me of the issues between Kory and Loki." Aaricia found a nearby chair, pulled it over, and sat on it. "Loki has his own daddy issues and I do kind of agree that he should have found a better way to tell Kory she's his kid, but he keeps trying to see her, even though she keeps pushing him away. A god like Loki who's not really supposed to be near his demigod offspring... is pretty much giving her more attention he should be. I personally think he's not ready to accept her out of his life."

Anubis was done with his meat and rubbed his nose with his nose. He gave back a 'I think I understand what you're saying, but not how it relates to me, so go on' look.

"Kory? She's just traumatized by the war. But her rejection Loki from trying to be a part of her life? I think she just wants to find people to blame for her problems. She blames Loki for not being there for her when her mom died, she blames all Germans for ruining her childhood, she blames all governments for making her feel like she's in Hell for being the kid of a god no body likes... But the weirdest from her part? I honestly don't think she fully hates him. Well, OK, her evil personality Kaïra wants him dead, but so far the worst Kory has done to Loki besides kicking him out of her house constantly was either dropping him in her lionfish moat or wishing she had a Hulk to yank Loki around. I guess what I'm saying is that if Kory really wanted Loki out of her life, she would have done something about it years. Both just have big egos and don't want to admit they have such a flaw."

Anubis turned into his human form, but kept sitting on the floor. "So what? You're saying that Horus and I have a meager chance of actually caring for each other? You must be mad."

"Think about it. If Horus thought you were either a threat to the world or just competition, he'd have finished you off by then. You clearly dislike how he treated you when you were kids, but you still don't have the guts to kill him."

"He's tried to kill me before."

"And yet here you are. Why is that?"

Anubis looked stunned at her words. _And yet here you are. Why is that_? Part of him was yelling at him to snap out of it. He grew up with the Rapharions. He was Seth son and they hated him. Horus had always bullied him. He attacked him in DC. He pretty much stalked him in Wakanda. But the other part of the young god told him that Aaricia's words might have some truth in it.

Just then, a glow came from the other side of the balcony and Kory walked up to them.

"Anubis, we need to talk."

 _An hour later_

Marion looked dully at the door of her guest chamber as she used the vibranium ring Shuri had given her to shoot darts at the wooden structure.

Things were barely fine, if not impossibly frustrating. Being the mortal host of a god was already one heck of a responsibility, but being the host of one with terrible family issues and the clingy need to prove himself useful? Marion was glad Anubis wasn't the one doing the orders, but she was really irked on how submissive he was. Sure, he respected her and she knew he saw her as a strong, independent mortal, but at the same time she hated how he behaved like a regular dog... _even when he was in his dog form._

Odin, she heard, was full of contempt. Thor? A hammerhead in need of constant battles. Loki? An insufferable know-it-all liar with foster family issues. Most of the Rapharions? Assholes. The demigods? Fairly average, if not for their amusement in drinking off their problems and trying to get out of situations.

Anubis? He was the only modest one. He didn't dare assault Marion. His interactions with mortals were not them being inferior to him, but him inferior to him. If he was in a bad mood, he'd turn into a dog and go brood elsewhere.

She heard a scratch repeating itself three times from the other side of the door. Marion knew that this is what Anubis did to say the message 'I don't feel like brooding alone'. She reached out to open the door and found him standing in the hallway.

"I don't feel like being alone," he said.

"You managed to finish playing Grumpy?" Marion asked smugly as she let him in and close the door before briefly noticing the scratches on the wood.

"No... I'm scared." Anubis sat down.

"Why wouldn't you be? With psycho gods on the loose and the upcoming gathering." She looked at the window displaying Wakanda in its spectacular nighttime glory. "By the way, I could have sworn I saw falcon flying just outside the dome for hours. Did Horus follow you?"

"Yes."

Marion frowned when she realized that Anubis didn't sound overly exasperated, a reaction that she usually expected from Anubis whenever he talked about his problems with his cousin.

"Does it ever happen to you when you know this clingy individual who constantly gets into your angered nerves but you are beginning to ask yourself if maybe he might have some... not so selfish reasons that he doesn't want to admit it?" Anubis asked her.

"Depends on the clingy person in question," the redhead in question. "Before my parents died, I knew this kid in 6th grade called Max. Didn't have the best methods of being a discreet secret admirer." She sighed. "I kind of was an asshole to him, and by the time I came to see that he wasn't so much of a social wreck, well... He died."

"You caused him to commit suicide?" Anubis exclaimed.

"What? No! There was a tractor festival happening in Mediansburg and he got in the way of a tractor race just for trying to pull away a stray cat!"

"Oh." Anubis said.

"Why are you asking me that topic anyway? I hope you aren't going chummy on Horus."

"I honestly don't know anything anymore." Anubis lowered his head and groaned.

Marion sat down next to him. "You know, for a god who's supposedly the terror among all immortals, you do have a good amount of people who don't cringe from you."

"Gee, thanks."

"It's better than everyone seeing you as an abomination, right?"

Anubis scowled at her. "I fail to see how this is supposed to make me feel."

"At least you succeed in understanding that I think it's time you stop acting like a doormat!" Marion told him sternly. "You keep saying that you want to help anyone, but you keep letting others push you around and most of them aren't even immortals! Or the only times you do dare take action is when a Rapharion is threatening something that relates to your job!"

"What, you think I asked for this job?" Anubis stood up and confronted Marion. "You think I wanted all of this mayhem?"

"Frankly, I don't even know what you want!" Marion began to get angry. "Honestly, I don't think you even know what I want!"

"I do, but I'm not the type to provide it!"

Marion froze and changed her facial expression from angry to confused.

"Marion, look at me!" Anubis waved his hands at himself. "I'm the god of mummification! My life depends on a stupid Infinity Stones! It's not like I haven't had deeper feelings for you, but I can't risk potential negative consequences to my only real mortal friend! What if I end up hurting you?" He waved his hand at the window. "What if for some unexpected reason, my human appearance makes way for my real godly form and I accidentally burn you into ashes? I don't know, what if we end up like Loki and Kory's mother Evangeline, where I try to stay with you after you get some demigod miniature version of me and the Fates or the Norns or whoever decide that I must leave you forever? Either I give up my immortality and I die on the spot, or I stay immortal while you age your way to death? And have you thought about the last plague? If Seth only sees fit to spare me, you might end up on the list of firstborns to die and I'd never find your soul in the afterlife!" He had his back hit the wall and let himself sink to the floor. Marion looked at him as he began to shed tears that landed on the Eye of Ra. She stared as the tears seemed to sink into the stone and evaporate themselves in the core. For all she knew, the strange orange stuff moving inside the stone's surface, making the stupid thing look like it was breathing. How she hated the stupid Eye of Ra!

"It's not going to do anything, lashing at it," Anubis told her. "It's letting me hear your... MARION, ARE YOU MAD?" Anubis freaked when Marion used her vibranium ring to try shooting darts at the stone. Anubis quickly grabbed the darts with his bare hands before giving the chance for the stone to react.

"Curse you, Ra!" Marion shouted. "You should have kept the eye to yourself rather than letting Anubis suffer so much! Good thing you're not getting touched by me to burn me, because even a peck wouldn't be worth it! I don't believe in your so-called so benevolence!"

"I'm sorry," Anubis said unhappily. He said something in Ancient Egyptian and Marion collapsed on the floor. All that came out of her was a series of snoring. He placed his friend on the bed and tucked her in.

"Bacchus!" He shouted as he got out. "You got any addictive sodas?"

 _Meanwhile, in Sarasota_

Loki had his issues with Kory. Anubis pretty much put Marion to sleep. For Zoë's part, she was getting frustrated over a piece of sudoku. When going through at least twelve pages of failed sudoku got to her nerves, she tossed the book into the fireplace. Rain was pouring outside, and much to her chagrin, returning home caused her to find out that one of her neighbors' dogs somehow managed to break her ventilation system. With Bonnie preferring to stay in her own house with all that rain and the repairman unable to come until tomorrow, her house felt like a sauna. Even when just wearing a summer dress underneath her lab coat, she felt like it was too much.

"Alright, Erskine?" Barnes asked.

Zoë stared at his shirtless, soaking self as he closed the door leading to Zoë's backyard pool. "Were you trying to take a bath in the pool under the rain?"

"I could roast if you want," he said as he slightly patted himself dry with a towel. "What about you? Are you still upset that you weren't selected to represent the Science Division?"

"I got over it." She shrugged dismissively. "I don't intend on being Helen of Troy causing another Trojan War because I'm an Erskine."

"But then why are you working for a governmental agency?"

Zoë stared at Barnes as he sat down just four inches or five apart from her. "Steve told me that you use GAMA to hide yourself from HYDRA and that you swore the Erskine formula would die with you, but you're still contributing to a classified governmental branch."

"That's smart, for a soldier who's constantly brainwashed."

"Well considered me saving you led to HYDRA brainwashing me in the first place. Besides, whether it's HYDRA, SHIELD, the Avengers, or World War II, I'm still a soldier."

Zoë shook her head. "You're different. You were trained to be a soldier regardless of who you serve. I always wanted to be a doctor since I was little. Sure, my grandfather was a great inspiration for me, but I really wanted to help people. I happened to be a prodigy in science, whether it was for science or open-field analytical study." She took a deep breath and leaned on the couch. "Aside from hiding myself from HYDRA, I do enjoy my contribution to the Science Division, whether it's for analytical problem-solving, studying foreign germs brought by immigrating immortals, and healing agents... Still, I feel a pinch insulted when some other scientist is picked over me. I know Tiresias is doing his part in our contract... but I have my pride."

"Well, if I had to organize an awards ceremony for best scientist in the world, I'd give you first place." Barnes said with a smirk.

A small ding came from the laptop resting on the kitchen counter. Wondering if she got a message from GAMA, Zoë got up and went to fold out her laptop. Instead, she found an email sent to her by Andrew. "Seriously?" She exclaimed.

"What happened?" Barnes got up to join her.

"Tiff between Anubis and Marion. Apparently she almost lashed out at the Eye of Ra, so Anubis put a sleeping spell on her... And he had Bacchus make it seem like Marion would think she hallucinated the whole thing through intoxication!"

"He didn't!" Barnes gasped. "But isn't she like sixteen?"

"She is, but Bacchus was reasonable, he used Wakandan soda. High in sugar." She glared at the email. "Still, I don't believe it!"

"Yeah, they seemed like they were a great team. Why would Anubis make her think she got drunk with soda?"

"No, that barely surprises me." Zoë shook his head. "Anubis is not the time to physically hit his mortal host. Not just because he'd get in trouble, but he doesn't have the nerve to physically harm Marion. No, I'm talking about Marion lashing out at his necklace." She clasped her hands together. "I warned Marion not to go overboard."

"You did?"

"You'd be stunned, but I also work as a therapist for the female agents at GAMA, especially the mortal ones. Given it's the 21st century and mortal women could be just as deadly as mortal men, the immortal males try to treat them with the best respect. Unfortunately, well, you know..."

"How often does it happen when mortal agents fall in love with their immortal partners?"

"Let's imagine that every year, GAMA hires 12 groups of mortal-and-immortal pairings. 60% tend to be same-gender, the 40% being opposite genders."

"So close to 7 same-gender groups and 5 of opposite gender," Barnes nodded.

"Take the 5 of opposite genders. In that section, around 4.5% are likely to show some kind of attraction."

"2 to 3."

Zoë nodded. "There's always going to be around 2 groups in 5 in the opposite gender partnerships who only display mutual respect, friendship, or professional. But then the others... it gets tricky. There are cases when it gets mutual, but others when it's unrequited, either because the immortal gets too much in the mortal's face or because the immortal avoids returning the mortal's affections. Any of those two cases could lead to really negative reactions." She pushed her laptop shut. "I'll give you some examples. I know some colleagues from the Science Division, Laurie and Donald. She's a lauma, a Baltic fairy, and Donald graduated from the University of Maryland. Great couple, they get along well, and worked together to build better dental wards for immortals over the country for twelve years now. They got married on their third year and they still have a stable relationship even after giving birth to five kids."

"Five kids! Wow!" Bucky whistled. "Go on."

"A bit around the turn of the century... I had to deal with giving sessions to a Registration Division agent, a mortal named Denise from Tennessee. She'd barely hosted for a month a centaur whose name I still can't pronounce, but GAMA suspects he was from the same herd as Nessus. The centaur tried to have his way with Denise. GAMA sent him back to Greece and I gave Denise therapies to calm her down before GAMA resorted to erasing her memories."

"Ouch. What about the third case?"

"No serious cases yet, but normally it only happens in case a mortal winds up with some kind of demigod or minor god. We don't have lots of those at GAMA and Anubis is the only major god yet to have joined GAMA. Obviously, he's one of those few gods who's never had flings with mortal women, so he gives Marion her space. Rather respectful for her when they're the best friends in the universe, but rather weird when she harbors feelings for him. And when the interest makes it harder, the feelings intensify."

"And with his current job getting in the way, Marion gets even more frustrated? What, does his necklace intensify both Marion's feelings for him and her hatred for his job?" Barnes grabbed himself a glass of water and filled it with tap water from the sink.

"Yep."

"You wouldn't to have any lemons? I tend to add some drops in my water."

"Help yourself. Lower drawer in the fridge."

Barnes did as she said and opened the fridge, but the moment he opened the lower drawer, he saw that lemons weren't the only things piled up in the drawer.

Guns.

"In case I have to shoot myself when the time comes," Zoë said dismissively.

"You're crazy, you know that, Erskine?" Barnes pulled out a half-cut lemon and squeezed whatever was left of it in the water.

"I did warn that the day I'm forced to spill the Erskine formula will be the day I let the family line and secret die," the doctor said. "If it's HYDRA or the governments or the Avengers, I'll pull one of my guns and shoot myself on the head. Bonnie even let me take samples of her banshee claws to enforce the bullets. Not even an expert like Strange could pull it out if it hit the center of my skull."

"You won't shoot yourself, Erskine." Barnes shook his head as he drank.

"Delight me with the information," Zoë dared. "How does an ex-killing machine keep a senile like me from suicide? Pulling the gun out of my hands or shooting me to do the deed instead?"

"No." Barnes put his hands down. "I'd keep anyone who wanted the formula away from you. If you even asked me, I would kill them for you."

Zoë frowned. Barnes was saying he'd protect her? That was a new one. "Why would you want to protect me?"

Barnes pursed his lips in thought. "Put it this way. I don't like you because saving you landed me with the brainwashing trigger words in the first place, but I don't dislike you because you paid it back by removing the bad stuff out of my head."

This confused Zoë even more. Didn't that technically mean that they no longer owe each other anything? He save her life, she saved his. Both didn't like nor disliked one another. What the heck was going on?

"Besides," Barnes said, "you're rather pretty and nice."


	19. Goddesses,Hanging Dork,Sea Pony, &SisDad

Chapter 19: Three Goddesses, One Hanging Dork, a Sea Pony, and My Sister's Dad

Aaricia didn't remember much of her traveling on the Geb Express.

She remembered Kory and Anubis talking to her about staying in a secure, Norn-free zone. They had her get ready, Kory had already prepared a backpack for her, Fjordson came with her, and all Aaricia remembered before the darkness came was a green Santa Claus coming from the Earth and laughing a lot.

Now, she found herself holding Fjordson while the two were stuck on the dome of Hagia Sophia. The bad news? Aaricia had no way of getting down. The good news? She had a great view of Istanbul and the waters.

"OK. So I either sit here and wait until Anubis' buddy shows up... or I could jump." Aaricia looked at Fjordson. He looked at her as if to tell her that he'd smack her face with one of his flippers if she even thought of jumping. "You're right. Let's not jump."

"Hey!"  
Aaricia yelped and almost tripped off the area she was standing on until Spiderman used his webbing to pull her back in place. She resorted to staying glued to the wall while Spiderman crawled his way down until he joined her.

"Sorry about that," he said.

"I thought Anubis told Iron Man that Geb sent you back to New York," Aaricia said. "Why is Anubis having you here in Istanbul?"

"To check on his mom," Spiderman said. "Geb told him Isis was alive, but since Anubis couldn't risk traveling to another country illegally... I volunteered."

"Oh," Aaricia said, a touched look appearing on her face. Meanwhile, Fjordson was curiously sniffing Spiderman. The latter pulled off his mask, causing Aaricia to see that the mask hid the face of a teenager close to her age. His hair matched his brown eyes and he had the look that one of those nerds had when they aced their tests, make their own living chemicals, know too much about movies, and who immediately jump into action if they ever got to live a real life adventure that you'd only see in fiction.

Spiderman petted Fjordson, who returned the affection by licking the boy's face.

"So... how exactly are we supposed to find the queen of Ancient Egyptian gods in a place like Istanbul?" Aaricia asked.

"Geb said that Isis fled to the Greco-Turkish territories," Spiderman explained. "After he gave me trip underground, which FYI, still gives me nightmares, I first checked Olympia in Greece. I ran into this guy, Argus."

"Wasn't he the guy who turned into a peacock or something after Hera made him watch over a cow?" Aaricia asked.

"Something like that. He's weirder in real life. Any who, I ran into him at Olympia, I tell him I'm looking for Isis as I'm an ambassador of Anubis, and he told me to go to Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Hera and Isis are seeing Ishara and he told me to wait by the cathedral until it's close enough to midday. A messenger of Ishara shall find you and bring you to her."

"Ishara lives in Hagia Sophia?" Aaricia asked.

"No, Argus said she lives in the ruins of some ancient Turkish baths neighboring Hagia Sophia and the palace of Constantinople. He said it's better to wait for the messenger. Goddesses tend to make a big fuss when normal guys stumble on their bathing."

Aaricia felt the need of bunching. While everyone from the Avengers, GAMA, and SHIELD to her own dysfunctional family were busy dealing with the crap that Seth was sending them, Isis was contending herself with bathing herself with her girlfriends?

A nearby church indicated that it was actually eight in the morning. "Well, it's technically breakfast. I found a good authentic café nearby. Did you want to, I don't know, go get something to eat?"

"Sure, but how do we go down there?" Aaricia got her answer when Spiderman picked her up and used his webbing to swing them down. By the time they reached the ground, Spiderman put Aaricia back on her feet and quickly ran to hide behind some columns. Fjordson was flapping his flippers in excitement after the ride they just had. Five minutes later, Spiderman came out, only this time he was in regular teenage clothing: sneakers, second-hand jeans, and something that said in Turkish 'I LOVE ISTANBUL!' He shoved his costume in his backpack, zipped it shut, and shoved it over his shoulders. Aaricia was still a bit stunned by how he could turn from dorky, brave vigilante to dorky, casual teenager and yet rise no suspicions.

"I forgot. I'm Peter." He held out his hand. Aaricia still looked confusingly at him, but she still returned the polite gesture.

At this rate, she understood why a 21st century Narcissus like Tony Stark denied labeling Spiderman as an Avenger.

 _At least two hours later_

If there was one advantage to being supplied by a god like Anubis or a demigoddess like Kory, it was that neither Peter nor Aaricia ran out of cash. If it seemed like they consumed three-quarters of Turkish lira, more lira came in. Aaricia never understand why foreign currencies made the American dollar so pathetic, but one thing was sure.

American cash would never pay her to get awesomely delicious Turkish coffee, Turkish delights, and baklava. She and Peter ate the delights and baklava for breakfast, and as the hours passed, they kept returning to buy more coffee. They had to stay awake as they waited around in the neighborhood of Hagia Sophia. Around 10:30, they took a break to sit on a bench. Since a fountain was nearby, Fjordson was taking the advantage of swimming to stay fresh while the two teens kept waiting.

"I'm starting to wish Isis were staying in Olympia," Peter said. "At least for someone who aced an Ancient Greece test, I could have located her or her messengers. But Ishara? I know nothing about her besides being the Hittite goddess of love."

"Same. Even Bacchus doesn't know much about her and his kind, the Greco-Romans, are technically neighbors."

"By the way, what's it like living with demigods?" He asked. "I mean, I haven't seen much from them yet, but I heard your sister... hates her dad?"

"Pretty much."

"So, Loki's what, your stepdad?"

Aaricia bit her mouth before releasing a laugh. "Thank God, no! Kory and I aren't even related by blood!" She calmed down. "No, she adopted me after... a freak accident. Kory's as old as Captain America and she hates Loki with all her guts. Well, the most she's done is kick him out of her house when he tries to visit... She's never actually attempted to kill him."

"He's committed." Peter nodded. "Does he occasionally talk to you?"

"I try to be social, but I try to avoid talking to Loki when Kory's around. Last time I let him in the house when Kory was out shopping, she grounded me for half a year."

" _Half a year_." Peter whistled. "Wow. Even my Aunt May couldn't pull out a punishment like that."

"This heat is unbearable, how do the Turkish stand this in April?" Aaricia searched through her bag and managed to find a makeup bag. After searching through that, she found a compact mirror and used it to check for any sign of sunburn on her face. But besides showing her face, the mirror also showed her what was happening behind her on the street. She made a face.

"What's wrong?" Peter asked her.

"Someone's coming towards our direction."

"Is it the messenger?"

"Weirder. My sister's dad."

Aaricia closed her compact mirror. The teens turned to face the one and only Loki Laufeyson, dressed in an entirely white suit that really contrasted his raven, gelled back hair. He didn't even bother putting some kind of spell, he just walked around in the open and the tourists just ignored him. They probably thought he was some kind of rich American who missed his plane to Las Vegas.

"You kind of missed the Tony Stark cosplaying convention," Aaricia snarked.

"Nice to see you too," Loki snarked back.

"No, seriously, why are you here? Last time I checked, Kory should be in Nairobi at this moment. Shouldn't you be, I don't know, sweating to death in Africa by now just for following her?"

"I failed to use reverse psychology on her. So I kind of eavesdrop on her conversation with Kory, Thor, and Geb. And here I am." He held his hand up and a box wrapped in blue paper with a silver bow appeared on his palm. "By the way, happy birthday."

"It's Wednesday already? Shit!" Aaricia facepalmed herself. "Kaïra and the Tesseract, I forgot!" She turned to Peter. "Kory's evil personality said she'd wait until my birthday to decide if whether or not she'll use the cube to attack Loki!"

"We're talking about the cube he used to open up that wormhole in New York?" Peter raised his hand.

"Yes."

"But aren't the demigods supposed to perimeter check during the gathering? Because I don't see how Kory can be in both Nairobi and Istanbul at the same time."

"Kory's evil personality is the only one from her MPD that can _literally_ get out of her. Try to imagine what it would be like if Dr. Banner was facing the Hulk _in person._ "

"Oh."

Aaricia glared at Loki. "Did you follow me so that you can use me for a shield?"

Loki raised his finger to answer, but Fjordson wailed, earning their attention. A small whirlpool was growing from the fountain. Like a vacuum, it sucked in the fourth of them without attracting the attention of everyone. Fjordson looked like he was having fun, surfing down the tunnel of waters, while the teenagers and god screamed for their lives. The tunnels split in two, with Loki going his own way and the others in the second. The slide ended with the three landing in a pool.

"GAAH!" Aaricia gasped for air.

"Relax, it's only chlorinated water!" Peter sniffed himself. "I smell like spearmint gum."

Aaricia sniffed herself. "Tea tree shampoo." She and Peter swam and got out of the pool. They saw that they were inside some kind of underground Turkish bath room. Red pillars held up a dome ceiling with inked pictures of a woman being adored by scorpions and men.

A door opened up and in came a young woman in Ottoman clothing. She looked like she could be a common human servant if it weren't for the fact that she had a scorpion tail hanging from her superior.

"Greetings, guests." She bowed before them. "I am Scorpio, one of Lady Ishara's many handmaidens in her underground Turkish bath palace. Argus the One-Thousand-Eyed-One foretold us of your arrival, so Lady Ishara and her guests, Ladies Hera and Isis, await you."

"Thanks." Aaricia looked down and saw that getting out of the pool immediately dried her up.

"What happened to Loki?" Peter asked.

"Lord Laufeyson is getting a bath of his own," Scorpio said.

"C'mon, Fjordson!" Aaricia knelt down and got splashed as Fjordson jumped in her arms. Scorpio escorted them outside the pool and into a series of hallways, which made the hidden Turkish baths, a place generally meant for the public, look more like a one-man's bath house.

"So... are you the messenger we were told to wait?" Peter asked Scorpio.

"Yes. Forgive me if giving you a bathing slide nearly gave you a heart attack, but Ishara can't stand the smell of human flesh. She purposely avoids being reminded what happens to gods who feast on it."

"She's not going to eat us, right?"

"No. Worst things she can do to you is provide skin disease or send lethal scorpions after the unfaithful."

They approached a pair of doors, guarded by women who looked just like Scorpio. They used their tells to open them up, leading them inside a glorious lounging room complete with sea green cushions, golden curtains, pots with pyramids of food, and a pool with water so clear, it was almost mistaken for a mirror. But the real main attractions were the three ladies dressed in Turkish patterned spa robes having, well, a typical girls' spa day.

Ever since she got into the world of immortal-mortal relations, Aaricia noticed how most gods and demigods looked a whole lot like actors. Bacchus and Maui could be Jack Black and Dwayne Johnson. Aaricia still couldn't tell if Kory looked like Idina Menzel or Demi Lovato. She understood why Marion told her she thought Anubis looked like a hotter Dev Patel. So it was no surprise for Aaricia if Ishara, Hera, and Isis reminded her of actresses, but she didn't expect them to respectively look like Miss World Azra Akin, Lily James, and Gal Gadot.

Ishara was obviously attractive, considering she was the Hittites' goddess of love, but as she was bathing herself in the pool and relaxed on the edges, Aaricia and Peter saw that each of her arms had a tattoo of a scorpion... made out of scorpion stings... that looked like scorpion eyes. Her scorpion tattoos were so unnerving it was enough to help Peter keep his internal disgust.

Hera, the teens later agreed, was a disappointing sight. They expect some kind of angry goddess with a peacock feathered fan complaining about how her husband was so unfaithful. It was already weird enough imaging Hera in the blue Cinderella dress from that movie Lily James played, but Aaricia was disturbed by the goddess' extravagant features: her hair piled up in shades of blue and green and each strand seemed to blink an eye at her, it made one think she had a peacock's tail waiting to unfold for hair. Her eyes were icy blue and matched by mascara and eye shadows so applied in detail, Aaricia almost thought she was looking at a pair of peacock feathers than actual human eyes. Honestly, they might as well replace Hera with the actual bird.

Isis, on the other hand, was much better. Despite looking like she recently got her hair washed, it was straight and perfectly trimmed. She did have signs of dark eyeshadow on her eyelids, but not as crazy as the hieroglyphics would depict her. She didn't wear a fancy Egyptian necklace, but she did have a cord full of pendants that were either a sun disk or an Egyptian queen's crown. Despite currently reading fashion magazines in a spa room, she was holding on to a scepter that looked almost like Anubis' ankh scepter, only it had a tyet with small, golden flower carvings.

Yeah. Aaricia could definetly imagine an Egyptian Wonder Woman going all mama bear on Anubis.

Aaricia nudged Peter. He took example on her and kneeled before the goddesses.

"Well isn't this a remarkable surprise?" Ishara smiled to the two teenagers. "What brings a mortal American gifted by Arachne and a descendant of Thor in my personal bathing palace?"

"I beg your pardon?" Aaricia asked.

But Ishara went on as if Aaricia had said nothing. "Sixteenth birthday, today. Isn't it? How long did Ikolson think it would take before you realized your birthright? Your destiny?" The goddess chuckled. "I can only imagine the disappointment Quetzalcoatl will have when the Norns' designated blood of Thor doesn't show up today to die in the venom of Jormugand."

"Give the child a break, Ishara," Hera rolled her eyes as she let her blue nail polish dry. "I'm sure they didn't come all this way to hear you speak of ominous fates."

"Speaking of ominous fates, what happened to Loki?" Peter asked.

Hera and Isis glared at Ishara. The latter merely shrugged and dove right into the deep of the pool.

"Curse Kronos, a Jotun getting handled by Ishara's servants in Turkish baths!" Hera looked disgusted. "Scorpio, get him out!"

"Clothed or not?" The servant asked with a sly smile.

"Clothed, of course!" Hera snapped. Her increase of tone scared Scorpio into scurrying out of the room.

"Miss Isis, ma'am?" Peter gently asked the Rapharion queen. "Anubis sent me. He wants to know how you are doing?"

Isis threw away the magazine she was reading. "Is he alright?" She asked worriedly.

"Uh..." Peter looked at Aaricia. "He seemed fine when I saw him, but you saw him last."

"Brooding like a dog, trolled by Horus -yeah, he's alive, Seth's creating his own plagues of Egypt to wipe out all the world's firstborns, gathering in Nairobi, evil trio of gods on the loose, and I have _no idea_ how things are working out between him and Marion." Aaricia listed. "I'd say that emotionally, he's no better than Frost Giant dung, but physically, he's still good."

"My poor pup..." Isis looked like she wanted to cry.

" _Your_ poor pup?" Hera rolled her eyes. She turned her head to the teens. "Can you believe she'd favor a son who isn't even her own over her actual flesh and blood?"

"HE'S AS GOOD AS MINE!" Isis shouted to Hera. The ceiling of the room almost began to shake.

"Nobody said he wasn't, Lady Isis!" Aaricia waved her hands to calm down the goddess. "Believe me, we've seen it. Whenever Anubis mentions the Rapharions, he always speaks highly of you over all the other Rapharions."

"But why couldn't he come see me?" Isis asked Peter. "Even for a visit?"

"He works for a company that apparently decided agents can't go to other countries unless it's for a dire emergency," Peter told her. "He already got into trouble for going to Wakanda and Norway. When Geb told him you were safe, he wanted to check up on you... but he couldn't do it physically."

Isis' sadness turned into an amused chuckle. "That's my son alright... when he knows he's done trouble, he tries to make things right by sticking to the rules.

"If only I had your cuckoo-like perspective." Hera shook her head.

"But I thought cuckoo birds were your second avian symbol after the peacock, Lady Hera," Aaricia said.

"Oh, it is! Zeus turned himself into a cuckoo to better court me into marriage. Long story. But Isis here?" She tilted her head to her friend. "Cuckoos in the wild tend to leave their eggs in the nest of other birds, and when the eggs hatch, the nest's mother bird ends up feeding with love the cuckoo, nearly killing her own chicks to starvation. My point? Osiris and Isis had one biological son, Horus. Osiris keeps mocking Seth in jail by raping Isis' sister Nephtys during her visits. Nephtys keeps getting her unwanted children dead, killed by her husband, to the point that when he and her actually have a child of their own, she's afraid he's going to kill it. So she loses her life to Seth after giving her baby to Isis... and Isis loved her _nephew,_ a baby bird who wasn't her own, over her own son."

"I don't see what's wrong with that," Aaricia shook her head. "Laufey left his son to die. Odin adopted Loki and Frigg really pampered Loki."

"And that infectious maternal instinct Frigg had, she transferred it to Loki, who has such a _need_ to be there for his demigod child, who pretty much _smothered_ you just so that neither you nor her brother Jormugand would die from the other," Ishara snarked. "Amazing, isn't it? How beings love what isn't naturally theirs, the object of love then turns on them?"

Speaking of objects of love, Scorpio came in escorting Loki. The God of Mischief looked ticked off soaked, and to boot it all, his white tuxedo was replaced by green-and-black old Ottoman clothing. Naturally, Aaricia and Peter couldn't keep themselves from laughing. Isis and Hera said nothing. Ishara whistled.

"Lookie good, Loki," Ishara commented.

"I will murder you!" Loki hissed.

"You look like Aladdin!" Aaricia giggled.

"Which version, the one from the books or the shirtless one from Disney?" Peter joined the laughter.

"Ooh, great idea! Scorpio, would you relieve Loki of his shirt?" Ishara asked her servant.

"No!" Loki screamed.

"Love goddesses," Hera shook her head. "Just as bad as unfaithful husband."

"Hathor wasn't too bad," Isis remarked. "She was pretty loyal to Horus."

"Geb mentioned she survived," Peter said. "Anubis didn't see it as good news."

"She wasn't with Horus when he attacked Anubis in DC or when he followed him to Wakanda," Aaricia nodded.

"I'm not surprised," Isis shook her head. "After I had Anubis leave our sanctuary with the Eye of Ra and Seth attacked, the few Rapharions who survived are left rather weakened. Even with regular nectar and ambrosia to strengthen us, we're no good matches for Seth. And if he's decided to ally himself with Quetzalcoatl, Sedna, and Kali, I can only imagine the worse."

"I'm afraid Thanos may have been behind the release of Seth," Loki spoke up.

The three goddess stared at him, even Ishara lost her teasing personality.

"I take it back, Thanos is worse." Isis groaned.

"Thanatos?" Aaricia asked.

"No, not the death god. Thanos is different," Hera said. "He comes from outer space, I mostly know he's insane."

"I know he's after all the Infinity Stones." Isis glared bitterly at Loki. "I know he gave you the scepter and sent you that army of Chitauri in exchange for the Tesseract."

Aaricia looked at Loki. "You're lame on so many levels. You're the God of Mischief! And you got sent to Earth as a mere expandable rookie?"

Loki said nothing. Probably because he was ashamed.

"And now Kaïra has the Tesseract!" Aaricia began pacing around the room nervously.

"Relax, Thanos is still many light years away!" Ishara said dismissively. "You just need to make sure that you keep the Space, Soul, Time, and Mind Stones apart for as long as you can."

"Except Kaïra wants to use the Space Stone on _him_." Aaricia pointed an accusing finger at Loki. "Hey, I just remembered! Before we got sucked into the pool, I asked you if you were using me as a shield!"

Loki raised his hand to say something, but all of a sudden, a portal of blue and green sparks appeared out of nowhere. A figure walked through it.

"Dr. Strange?" Aaricia recognized the silhouette of the Sorcerer Supreme.

But then when he could be fully seen, they saw something was amiss. His usual blue eyes were now glowing in shades of green that matched the glow of his Eye of Agamotto necklace. As the portal closed behind Dr. Strange, they saw that Dr. Strange had magical chains of blue and green that connected to the mouth of Kaïra's snake ring.

To put it simply, Kaïra had pretty much leashed Dr. Strange.

"You said you were going to think about it..." Aaricia choked at Kaïra.

"And I did. I won't kill Loki myself. I'll have another Infinity Stone bearer do the job _for me_ ," Kaïra said coldly.

"It must have been one powerful spell," Hera said as she and the other goddesses got up, magically changing from ladies in spa clothing to badass goddess uniforms. "Clearly you didn't contend with a mere hypnotism spell, you went for an enslaving enchantment that forced the Time Stone to chain itself to the Space Stone!"

"And I can have Strange control time and space for me." Kaïra snickered before scowling angrily at Loki. "I have business to finish with you."  
Fjordson jumped out of Aaricia's arms and dove into the pool. He raised his head out of the water and spat a massive blast of water at Kaïra and Dr. Strange.

"Shield me!" Kaïra barked at Dr. Strange.

" _Yes, mistress._ " Strange said in a rather monotone behavior and went on to use his magic to create a shield, blocking the water blast. Loki snapped himself to not only get into his regular Asgardian clothing, but to also get Aaricia and Spiderman in gear.

"Cool!" Spiderman said.

Aaricia, meanwhile, stared at what used to be her trademark uniform back when she was still at NU: full body leotard, thigh high chunky heeled boots, elbow high gloves, and a domino mask. Naturally, the NU uniform was mainly black with blue highlights, but it seemed like Kory had shoved into her bag a blue version with dark highlights. Strapped to her waist was a sword (which was actually the sword the demigods had crafted for her with Thor and Heimdall).

"Never thought I'd be back in this getup." She grabbed for her sword. "OK. Personally, I hope that you're the only problem I have to deal with, Kaïra..."

They began to hear rumbling. They all looked up and saw cracks growing on the ceiling. Then, a hand dug its way out and went back in, creating a bigger hole. From that hole crawled a figure that was least expected.

Yatir, the Fourth Plague.

"Uh, the Avengers are in Nairobi," Aaricia whistled. "That's like, south from the Sahara."

" **Well isn't this quite a feast?** " Yatir snarled. " **The prey has now become the predator, the predator is now the prey. I'm sure the Mighty Seth will love to hear where his sister is hiding and Quetzalcoatl will love to hear where Thor's blood has been hiding, but for now, I must destroy the one I was sent to plague!** "

No one seemed to understand what Yatir was talking about. Well, Spiderman caught up more quickly. "But I'm not a full Avenger! Why would Seth want to plague me?"

As if the timing wasn't bad enough, Fjordson desperately needed to take a break and plunged back in the water. The brainwashed Dr. Strange had no need to keep the shield up, but he was prepared to fight.

"Well," Ishara said. "My Turkish baths just got dirty."


	20. The Fight of Istanbul-Nairobi, part 1

Chapter 20: The Fight of Istanbul-Nairobi, part 1

The gathering was up at the main building of the UN at Nairobi. It was already close to ten and the demigods, posing as mere white tourists, kept an eye around the city as the last representatives for the UN and the divine immigration organizations went in.

Kory drank from her water bottle as she observed the UN building from underneath the shades of a tree. "Everyone's in. Bacchus, what's on the ground level?"

"Rather normal for most of the streets," Bacchus spoke through his phone as he walked through Kenyatta Avenue.

"Maui?"

"Sort of a jackpot. I spotted the Nairobi River." Maui observed from a safe distance with binoculars the polluted river that mainly hit the slums. "I can imagine Nile coming up here, but isn't much for a river, I highly doubt Sedna would go that far. Plus, the UN building is nowhere near the river."

"Keep searching guys," Kory told them. "Seth and his new best friends will try anything to assault the gathering. I already don't like to think what it will be like when my brother shows up."

 _Meanwhile, inside the UN building_

Frankly, no one really expected it. The human UN representatives were rather surprised to see the number of divine immigration organization leaders and head agents who had come to the gathering. Each organization sat next to the representative of their country. The Avengers sat next to GAMA.

"Heads up," Anubis cautiously warned the Avengers. "Whatever you do, don't tick off the Norns."

As the leaders of the Scandinavian League were none other than the Norns, they were present at the gathering. Each Norn was dressed in a grey business uniform and looked like a reincarnation of an aging human. The Norn responsible for THETA, the Finnish divine immigration organization, had the appearance of a sixteen-year-old girl who dyed her hair silver-platinum and looked downright bored. The Norn in charge of SIGMA, from Sweden, had the irritated expression of a sixty-year-old aunt who was tired with her life. The last Norn, the one responsible for NU, was a complete hag: she looked like she was on the verge of death at one-hundred-and-sixteen-years-old, yet death failed to claim her. Everything on her head and face was withered, and as NU agents sat down, they made sure they sat furthest away from her.

"Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld," Thor gave their names.

The meeting finally began. Everyone signed classified papers. Then, a leader from one of the organizations had to volunteer to go to the podium and remind the purpose of the divine immigration organizations from the Themis Protocols. It was Madam Sanskrit, the leader of DELTA, who volunteered for the deed.

"The organizations' purpose is to neither belittle mortals nor pamper the divine," she spoke without even reading from the book, it was almost as if she had memorized the pages before even volunteering. "Our purpose is to harmonize those societies together. But at the same time, we acknowledge that immortals have no claim on the mortal population they choose to join and most of the mortal population is not ready to accept the presence of the divine, thus the divine must remain hidden."

"You're being a bit judgmental," one of the UN representatives commented. "You say we'd reject them. We've never met them in person, how can we reject them?"

"Most of the immortals who immigrate are creatures pursued by humans accusing them of witchcraft and other pagan crimes," Madam Sanskrit said. "I do ask you. If a Cyclops arrived in your country and you knew about it, would you greet it with open arms or aim a tank at it?"

That made the representative stay put.

"But let us drop our personal opinions for something much more serious at hand." She clasped her hands together. "Seth has escaped. He is creating the ten plagues of Egypt and hopes to unleash it on the Earth."

The organizations' representatives didn't react as much, but the UN looked terrified. Tony tapped Thor. "Is it just me or are the Weird Sisters looking unusually cheerful?" Tony and Thor glanced at the Norns. The smiles on the faces of Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld looked like smiles coming from a graduating high school cheerleader, a hunter after he shot a deer, and a sadistic serial killer after he has cornered his victim.

"We have come to conclude that Seth 'collects' his plagues from lands of significant mythology and that he will unleash his final one in the Straits of Gibraltar," Madam Sanskrit continued. "When is still a mystery..."

"I hate to interrupt, Madam Sanskrit, but you fail to mention the part of Seth releasing Quetzalcoatl and Sedna and that you confessed failing to notice that Kali escaped her jail," Urd spoke up. "Please, enlighten us."

"What is there to enlighten about? We already know that the evil gods are out."

Her response did not seem to please the assembly. Asu grimaced and fidgeted in his seat. Ben, who was sitting next to him, noticed the unease reaction of the dreamcatcher spirit.

"What's wrong?" Ben whispered to Asu.

" _Kali worries that the Norns may have unmasked her_ ," Asu said.

"You mean Kali's on the podium right now?" Ben whispered. "How do we reveal her?"

 _Cue to Ben and Asu's shared mental visual, with the two shaped out like chibi from Ultimate Spiderman_

 _"WHEEL OF REVELATIONS!" Voices shouted while chibi-Asu pulled down a lever and made the wheel turn until it landed on an image of Kali napping with her feet on the desk and human bones on the floor._

 _"Kali's been eating the DELTA secretary!" Chibi-Ben shouted before then groaning. "Why are we even doing this?_ "

 _Cue present real life_

"What do we do then?" Ben asked quietly.

As some UN representative went on to ask about why they just don't send Anubis to end Seth's plans, Asu nudged Ben to look on his laps. The dreamcatcher placed a knife on top of them.

"It's the problem," Anubis said. "Seth expects me to go to him and literally hand the Eye of Ra to him. Guarding the Eye of Ra is my job. I do not try to use it for war like he does."

"The humans get that," Verdandi said, "and so do the rest of the divine immigration organizations. But do tell us: when the time will come for you to confront him, how will you challenge him?"

Asu held Ben's wrist underneath the table while placing the blade's tip on Ben's skin. He prepared to make a cut...

"You'll have to do better than mere blood leaks to tempt me."

Ben and Asu looked up. Everyone in the assembly looked in confusion as Madam Sanskrit leaned on the podium and glared at Asu. "FYI," the DELTA leader commented to the Ojibwe dreamcatcher spirit, "you should know I place fake thoughts in my head. The Norns were already aware that I posed as Madam Sanskrit."

Thor and Anubis were the first to stand up and jump off their row. Anubis pulled out his ankh scepter. "Hello, Kali."

'Madam Sanskrit' let out a smug smile as her youthful body turned into a monstrosity. Her nice tan skin and bun-tied black hair became volcanic rock-colored skin and silver hair moving like flames. Her clothed uniform turned into one of skulls and dripping blood, and two more arms emerged underneath the ones she already had. She bounced onto the podium, sinking her nail on the wood like some kind of hungry spider. Naturally, the Nimrod agents' first impulse was to pull out their weapons and aim it at Kali.

"What did you do to Madam Sanskrit?" One of the DELTA representatives demanded.

"I killed her. Obviously." Kali snarked. "I mean, after escaping my jail during World War II, what did you expect? That I'd hide in some lamb ready for dinner?"

"Then again, hiding among a mass of mortals doesn't seem to be your thing," Anubis commented. "Your disguise as Madam Sanskrit was probably the only way for you to... keep your savage tendencies in check."

"That's rich, coming from you." Kali jumped off the podium, the weapons still aimed at her. "Then again, manipulation is genetic, isn't it? When I got the news of the gathering and that Seth's servant never bothered to come to my former prison, I knew today was meant to be my invitation from him." Kali looked at all the present mortals with hungry eyes. "Then again, it's convenient, isn't it? He already has four plagues, he's working on numbers five and six, and honestly, my presence here will welcome any attack that shall give Seth his seventh point."

Kali opened up her arms in the air. "So go ahead, mortals. Dare to attack me. I look forward to bringing the best carcass to Seth." She then looked at the Norns. "Looking forward for Thor's offspring to show up? Rest assured, ladies. Aaricia will come."

The crones smiled in pleasure.

"YOU KNEW?" Thor exclaimed, though knowing the Norns' functions, he was addressing Kali.

"What are you talking about?" Marion frowned. "Aaricia's still in Wakanda."

"Actually, she's in Istanbul," Kali smirked. "Sparky and Dog Boy here forgot to mention: the Norns expect your friend to slay Loki's son Jormugand today, but Loki's daughter is so overprotective, she wanted to save her biological and foster siblings, and Geb convinced Kory and Thor to send her to Istanbul. Naturally, they got Dog Boy in it because he sent Spiderman to check on Isis. And naturally, Geb isn't known for favoring any of his descendants, so he shared the news with Seth, which he told to either Quetz or Sedna, and one of them sent me an email about it."

Anubis froze. Marion and Iron Man looked at him in disbelief. The latter took off his helmet for him to reveal his angry face at Anubis while the representatives murmured in confusion.

"You said your grandfather brought him back home!" Tony gritted his teeth.

"You didn't mention Isis being alive? Or that Aaricia wasn't in Wakanda?" Marion gasped. "Anubis, why?"

"I couldn't check on her in person after the mishap in Norway and Wakanda and Spiderman volunteered!" Anubis explained.

"He had no business! You should have sent him home!" Tony got angrier.

"Hey, you were the one who asked him if he wanted to tag along with me!" Anubis accused.

"Yes, Tony, _you asked him_." Kali sneered. "Spiderman's only doing what you asked, and right now, he's playing with _your_ plague."

Tony realized what she meant and he blasted her on the face.

 _Meanwhile_

Panic was growing in Istanbul. Loki had just been sent flying off the ground and was being aimed at, courtesy of the brainwashed Doctor Strange. Kaïra was playing on her glowing strings and the Infinity Stones kept her hold on the sorcerer as he threw green and blue blasts at Loki. Civilians ran in fright, though out of fear of whom, that was the question. Aaricia had tried to cut the Infinity Puppet strings, but her sword couldn't cut through. On her latest attempt, she got sent flying and crashed on a wall.

Spiderman was not really having the ideal vacation. Yatir kept flying after him wherever he swung off to, and whenever he shot her webbing, she'd just dodge it.

" **Not really much of a menace, are you, Spiderman?** " Yatir taunted over the wind. " **No wonder the Avengers don't want you!** "

"Then it's not really me Seth wants you to plague," Spiderman said as he crawled up a building and landed on top of a flagpole. "It's Mr. Stark, isn't it?"

" **Very good!** " Yatir clapped her hands in mock. " **Who would have seen it coming, right? Everyone expects Iron Man to be plagued by the final one, but honestly, that would be too obvious. I am to plague him** _ **psychologically**_ **by using his own methods. Treating others like vermins beneath them, swatting those with hope in their souls...** "

"That's my teacher you're talking about!" Spiderman swung in to kick her, but she dodged and kicked him in the ribs.

" **Please! A man who would refuse your wish of becoming a real superhero like him, a teacher? He uses his armor like humans do to zap a common housefly! I bet if you really irked him, he'd zap you like the common bug you are!** "

Peacock feather darts were thrown at her, but Yatir dodged them.

"Dang it!" Hera cussed as she and her godly associates drove in their bikes to reach the fighting parties. With dramatic timing, Aaricia almost crashed until Isis grabbed her and pulled her on the passenger seat.

"Geb must have told Seth that Spiderman was here!" Isis shouted over the noise.

"But he's not an Avenger!" Aaricia shouted.

"No, but his mentor Iron Man is. I can hear the conversation Spiderman is having with Yatir... Seth is using Spiderman, knowing that whatever harm Yatir does to him, Iron Man will be plagued."

"But I still don't understand!" Aaricia protested. "The others were so sure that Iron Man would be plagued by the last plague!"

"My child, even if a god releases a plague, it will still act like a regular plague unless it comes with specific rules. If Seth wanted his plagues to individually target a specific Avenger, it would be too obvious. When Anubis unleashed the Ten Plagues of Egypt, he did warn Moses on what must be used to protect the Hebrews while the plagues were on..."

"Lavender!" Aaricia snapped her fingers. "Flies are sensitive to lavender! I remember Bacchus growing lavenders around his vineyards!"

The goddesses parked their bikes just as things got worse. Yatir had managed to cuff Peter in his own webbing and was yanking him around like a spider-themed yo-yo. Kaïra Lokisia was giving her father the worse time of his life by using zombie-Doctor Strange's magic to yank Loki around the same way Hulk did to him back in New York. Aaricia searched through her costume and pulled out her bottle of lavender perfume.

"Lady Hera, may I please have one of your peacock feathered darts?" Aaricia asked very politely.

"Only one?" Hera plucked out a feather from her head and straightened it into a dart before giving it to her. "You think you can hit her with only one dart from here while she flies?"

"Not if she's too distracted dealing with her task and avoiding the stuff you three throw at her." Aaricia dipped the dart into her perfume bottle, causing the dart's blue hue to become lavender colored.

"What are you going to do about Loki and his daughter's evil personality?" Isis asked. "She's only a physical doppelganger of Kory's worst parts, but Loki knows that if he physically harms Kaïra, it might hurt Kory."

"I know. Kory's normally content at just throwing stuff at him but Kaïra wants his head. With Doctor Strange throwing all the hits, Loki's too busy getting injured and he can't strike Kaïra to free him. Fjordson!" The water horse crawled up to her. "When you get the chance, get the necklace off him and bring it to me!"

"Clever girl." Ishara smirked. "Let's do this! Oh, Yatir!" Ishara raised her hands. Giant scorpions emerged from the roads of Istanbul and made their way to the battle like the army of invertebrates they were. Their tails served as cannons shooting venom at Yatir. She flew around to avoid the venom blasts, but doing so caused the venom to hit the webbings and release Spiderman from her. Aaricia caught him before he could fall.

"Oh my gosh! That was unreal!" Spiderman exclaimed.

"I know," Aaricia said. "Listen, before you go with Fjordson to get the necklace off Doctor Strange, can you swing me to the top of that building?" She pointed at the tall building closest to where Yatir was dodging Hera's darts.

"Yep!" Spiderman used his webbing to send Aaricia on top of the building. She held her lavender-spiked dart closely while the goddesses were doing their best at pinning Yatir close enough to the wall. Spiderman grabbed Fjordson and swung towards Kaïra Lokisia. "Hey, pal! Don't forget me!" He shot webbing at her face.

"You little!" Kaïra was distracted by trying to remove the webbing off her eyes, she couldn't see Fjordson biting the cord of Doctor Strange's necklace, pulling the accessory off the sorcerer. Spiderman placed Fjordson back on the main ground and used his webbing to catch Doctor Strange and Loki before their fall could damage his face.

"What... what happened?" Doctor Strange blinked.

"My daughter's evil personality used a hypnotic spell to control you through the Infinity Stones." Loki rubbed his forehead. "Ugh."

"The Time and Space Stones... they're sister stones." Doctor Strange got back to his full senses. "By the time I sensed the Space Stone's presence, it was too late. Kaïra had snuck in the Sanctum Santorum, knocked out Wong, and used her magic to have me obey her. She can brainwash me again..."

Fjordson spit the necklace out of his mouth. Just as Doctor Strange reached to pick it up, Fjordson vomited on the Eye.

"Charming," Doctor Strange groaned.

"The sea horse might not have a bad idea. Covering the stone with some sort of protection might just prevent your skin to come in contact with it and expose you to Kaïra's enchantment," Loki said.

"Got it covered." Spiderman covered the Eye of Agamotto with his webbing and returned it to its owner. Doctor Strange looked strangely at the white ball of webs that shielded the Time Stone. After putting it on, he almost looked like he put on some sort of hippie jewelry.

Kaïra finally got rid of the webbing on her face. Her anger made her skin turn blue and her eyes red. Her hands glowed as she recited some sort of Nordic enchantment and ceased when she realized to her confusion that her spell wasn't working.

"What do you know, it worked." Loki was impressed.

"FINE! I WILL DESTROY YOU IF IT MEANS I CAN DISPOSE OF LOKI!" The Space Stone trapped in her ring reacted to her negative emotions and its powers glowed through her half-Jotun veins. She shot an icy blast that transformed into a spiked glacier. The men managed to dodge it, but the spiked glacier managed to ruin three blocks of Istanbul. Kaïra shot stalactites the size of elephants, but Doctor Strange used his magic to reduce the massive ice into a massive explosion of confetti. She tried to shoot a swarm of stalactites at Loki, but it only impaled his clones. Spiderman briefly bound her to his webbing to hold her down while Loki aimed for the ring...

"ENOUGH!" An icy wind ejected out of her and sent them flying to the nearest traffic lights. "I will not let some _second-rated_ heroes do my father's dirty work as his babysitters!"

"You can't just kill your dad!" Spiderman struggled to get up. "I mean, sure, it's Loki, but come on, patricide isn't really what's going to make you feel good in the end! Trust me, I know! I lost someone important when I got my powers and I almost would have had my way with the man who killed him, but if I had, my powers and myself would be corrupted! Great power comes great responsibility!"

"AND WHERE WAS LOKI'S GREAT RESPONSIBILITY WITH HIS GREAT POWER?" Kaïra screamed, creating a windy atmosphere that threatened to freeze the Mediterranean city. "WHERE WAS HE WHEN HYDRA'S AMBITIONS CLAIMED MY MOTHER'S LIFE? WHERE WAS HE WHEN MY DEMIGOD IMMORTALITY SPARED ME FROM DEATH ATTEMPTS WHILE THE WAR CLAIMED THE LIVES OF MY JEWISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS FROM NORWAY? WHERE WAS HE WHEN THE SCANDINAVIAN LEAGUE TRIED TO PUT ME ON A LEASH BECAUSE NOBODY TRUSTED ME AS A CHILD OF LOKI? WHERE WAS HIS SENSE OF FATHERLY LOVE WHEN HE WAS SO BUSY EARNING ODIN'S LOVE AND SHOWING OFF AGAINST THOR? WHERE WAS HE WHEN MY BROTHER JORMUGAND WAS TRAPPED TO SWALLOW HIS TAIL AND TRAVEL THE PLANET ENDLESSLY? WHERE WAS HE WHEN THE NORMS DOOMED THE LIFE OF THE ONLY SOUL THAT MATTERS IN MY LIFE! **LOKI HAS NEVER USED HIS POWER FOR RESPONSIBLE MEASURES! IT'S HIGH TIME HE KNEW WHAT IT FELT TO TRULY USE GREAT POWER RESPONSIBLY!** "

Kaïra shot a large spear of ice at Loki. Loki closed his eyes, expecting the spear to hit him, but it didn't. They heard the sound of ice going through flesh, but it wasn't on Loki.

It was on Aaricia's head.

Aaricia had jumped in to save Loki.

The three men were horrified. Kaïra looked worse. She turned back to her human appearance and cupped her cheeks in horror when Aaricia fell dead on the Earth. Kaïra's body began to fade, indicating her time in a physical form had passed out and she had to return back to Kory's subconscious. She exploded into tears and threw her ring off her finger. It landed on the ground and she disappeared.

"Aaricia... why..." Loki stammered.

"Save yourself the pity party."

Doctor Strange, Loki, and Spiderman stepped back in shock when the impaled Aaricia turned into a stone statue... and the real Aaricia stepped in to pick up the ring.

"What?" Doctor Strange blinked. Iris, Hera, and Ishara followed in, with Ishara dragging the unconscious body of Yatir, or in this case, her host. She still had the lavender-spiked peacock feather dart on her neck, so she was drugged for a good while.

"This child is incredibly clever," Hera said in a tone of applause. "Once we had the plague pinned, she stabbed her on the neck and neutralized her with the dart. By the time you two released Strange from the demigoddess's spell, she came up with the brilliant idea to use a clone of herself to come between her and Loki."

"In any personality she takes, Loki's only daughter has the same weakness: me." Aaricia had Spiderman make a bag of webbing to hold the ring in. "Making her think that she killed me through an Infinity Stone was the only way she'd willingly rid herself of it before her time ran out."

"But..." Loki was still confused. "How did you even do the cloning?"

Aaricia pulled out a purple vial from her pocket. "I never leave without stealing some of Kory's potion. Thanks to coincidences, I had a cloning potion. Hera just carved a humanoid shape out of stone in a few minutes and I poured the potion and a drop of my blood on the statue so it would take my appearance."

"Aaricia, you're brilliant." Loki got up and looked angry. "Don't ever do it again! We thought you were dead! I thought you willingly let your sister kill you!"

Aaricia gave a smile smirk. "I knew it. You didn't really come to use me a shield against Kaïra. You knew Kory would make sure that I'd be nowhere in or near Nairobi today because of some 'ominous fate' and since you knew I'm the only thing that really matters to her, you decided to risk your life to protect me."  
Everyone stared at Loki. He sighed: "I did. Kory wants nothing from me, but losing you would devastate her after she's lost everything else. Aaricia," his tone became serious, "Kory had every reason to hide the truth from you. It's not the first time the Norns have sent descendants of my brother to fight my firstborn son Jormugand, either to kill him and become the next Valkyries or die trying. And all of those before you had failed. When Kory adopted you and found out the Norns were training you to either meet your doom or lose her only biological family, she had you resign from NU and protect you from the attempts of other agents trying to force you back in. She wanted to keep you away from any topic relating to Jormugand and she made sure that wherever you were today, it would be away from Nairobi and NU's grasp... and me. Geb suggested that he hid her in Istanbul since he told Anubis that Isis was there, so after Kory talked to Anubis, he made sure Spiderman would be there to keep you safe."

"But Geb doesn't play favorites like Odin does, so you knew that even though he'd help his grandson Anubis, he'd still tip him off to Seth," Ishara finished.

"Well that means our next destination is Nairobi." Aaricia cracked her knuckles.

"You do know that in Nairobi awaits psychotic gods, the new plagues of Egypt, and a monstrous snake destined to poison you?" Doctor Strange asked.

"Yes." Aaricia shrugged. "But I'm not done kicking butts."

The others stared at her before eventually nodding in agreement.

"Alright, I'm in." Doctor Strange nodded.

"Hear, hear!" Hera and Ishara agreed.

"My son needs me... and my brother needs a scolding." Isis cracked her knuckles.

Loki patted Aaricia on the shoulder. "Apple doesn't fall far from the tree when it comes to battle."

"Thanks, but before we go to Nairobi, we need to make a quick stop to any nearby lab."

"Why?" Spiderman asked.

Aaricia turned to look at him. "Because I figured out a way to neutralize the plagues and you're the only brainy one here who knows his way around chemicals. We'll be making the only known antibiotic to fight off the Ten Plagues of Egypt from the 21st century."


	21. The Fight of Istanbul-Nairobi, part 2

Chapter 21: The Fight of Istanbul-Nairobi, part 2

A quarter of the Nimrod agents and U.N security died at the hands of Kali just as her BFFs decided to join the party. Quetzalcoatl and Sedna had come, in their physical forms and bringing the newest additions to the Plagues. The corpses of Tzira Khan and Bellerophon, their old prison guardians, served as hosts. Bellerophon had been turned into a zombie dressed in a full-body armor of rotting flesh and animal bones while Tzira-Khan had been turned into some sort of humanoid female jaguar made of volcanic rocks.

"Behold!" Quetzalcoatl raised his arms dramatically at the new plagues. "Malaria, the plague of livestock, and Precipitation, the plague of fired hail!"

Black Widow frowned. "Uh, aren't the boils supposed to come before hail?"

"Don't worry. It'll come soon," Kali smirked.

"Rather tricky, sneaking in. Those demigods outside had a perfect scan of the perimeter..." Sedna smiled a pearl colored toothy smile. "But we went with the classic trick. Sneaking in as guards."

"I'll be straightforward, Anubis," Quetzalcoatl turned his head to face the Rapharion. "Seth promises to make things easier if..."

"Sorry, I'd rather stick my head in Apophis' head." Anubis pointed his ankh spear at the Aztec god's neck.

"Come on, now, Anubis, why the hostilities?" The Aztec god's head feathers moved, either to reach out to Anubis as he took many step backs to avoid them or defend himself from those who tried attacking him. "I mean, you're actually willing to serve a race of ingrates?"

"Shut up."

"Come on, Anubis. What's the big idea? Sure, the original plagues devastated one country due to divine intervention, but that is nothing compared to how they devastate _themselves_. Humans already smite themselves in their desperate search of reasoning, equalizing, and empowering. One group of gods can kill a thousand, but a group of humans can kill millions of their own kind.

"You've never neglected the atrocities they throw on themselves. The wars, the crimes, the genocides, and so many horrors they have accomplished. They always seek to find excuses for their reasons. 'Our religion must be dominant.' 'No, our gender must be dominant.' No, it's their races, their nationalities, and whichever team they support on the Superbowl. Apparently, everyone must be a weakling because to have an enhanced capacity is punishable by incarceration. They make what we are a crime. Is this what you hope?"

"Shut up..." Anubis was beginning to get angrier.

"I mean, did you honestly expect that a world of monotheists would embrace us?" Quetzalcoatl spat. "You are a pagan nothing to them. We're different from them and they find an excuse to force us into hiding. Did you honestly believe that by protecting them, they would spare you? Even with the kindness that immortals bring them, the mortals repay them with nothing but hatred, execution, and incarceration all because we do not fit their norms."

"We appreciate Thor and he's a Nordic god!" Some mortal female pointed out.

"From outer space. And even though he constantly saves humanity, humans still feel the need to keep an eye on him," Sedna retorted.

"Anubis, you already killed a thousand in the old days with your plagues," Quetzalcoatl continued to harass Anubis verbally. "So what if your father kills a million firstborns? His act would already be a salvation for Earth... from the Decimation."

"The... Decimation?" Anubis was starting to break.

"Anubis, don't!" Marion realized he was getting crushed and Quetzalcoatl realized this as well.

"The Titan will be less merciful than Seth. Unlike Seth, he doesn't discriminate the people he might exterminate. If you don't help Seth destroy all the firstborns, the Titan won't give a damn on who is included in his mass destruction as long as it means half of the population is decimated! THINK, Anubis! Seth might be merciful if you joined him! He might be willing to spare any firstborn you wish to preserve!"

Anubis looked in horror at Marion. She was an only child, a firstborn. The Final plague would surely kill her. Quetzalcoatl had managed to hit a raw nerve, knowing that Anubis' emotional weakness was Marion. It was clear now to everyone who was witnessing this that Seth had purposely sent this god to verbally persuade Anubis into surrendering...

"NO!" Anubis shouted, startling Quetzalcoatl into keeping his head feathers away from him.

"What?" The trio of evil was shocked.

"You heard me! I said NO!"

"Think of the consequences..." Quetzalcoatl pointed a finger at Marion.

"I did! And I'm not taking your advice! You think I'd be selfish enough into preserving a few humans as pets while their families and friends lose a firstborn? You hope that if I do that, they'll give up on me and I'll be all by myself and obliged to go to Seth! I may be the god of mummification and the guardian of the Soul Stone, but that doesn't make me their god and guardian! That job is already taken! I can never change the ways humans think about me, regardless if it's because I'm a pagan god, an immortal, or Seth's son! I finally had the life and home I wanted by leaving the Rapharion's city to join the human civilization, and I won't let any of you take that away from me!" Anubis' ankh scepter glowed brighter from the Soul Stone affecting Anubis' emotions and fired a blast at the trio, sending them flying out of the building.

"Smooth move, hot dog!" Falcon took the lead by flying after the trio that was now loose into the city. The Nimrod agents quickly rushed out to place magical force fields on the human buildings while the local authorities began spreading the word for everyone to get inside and stay there. The Avengers began to follow, but Scarlet Witch and Thor got blocked by Malaria and Precipitation.

" **I am your plague, Wanda Maximoff!** " Malaria created three-feet-long swords made out of a thousand rotting cow horns. " **I am the rotting that you inflict on the flesh of those you claim to protect with your destructive powers!** "

" **I am your plague, Thor Odinson!** " Precipitation spit pellets onto the ground at each sentence break, creating a trail of burning grass circles. " **I am the hail of burning fire reflecting your ego that almost threatened the peace of worlds!** "

The Scarlet Witch and Thor prepared themselves by summoning magic and lightning bolts from their hands respectively. "Can you believe Bonnie the Banshee was actually right about me being plagued by hail?"

"I know, right?" Scarlet Witch shrugged before they charged at the two plagues.

Meanwhile, things were getting intense. Sedna was raising all the polluted water out of the river and increased its volume, planning on drowning everyone until Kory came in to huff and puff and turn into her half-Jotun form to blow a freezing wind at the water and turn it into an iceberg that Maui then diced with his fishhook. Bacchus grew vines to throw them back at Sedna, who did not appreciate the retaliation.

"Plagues of Seth, assist us!" She called out and out of nowhere, Nile, Amphibian, and Louse appeared. Yatir was still in Istanbul.

 _Ra, morning and evening star._

 _Grant me your light from afar_

 _So that with justice I shall smite_

 _The ones who defy your might._

Anubis used the solar incantation that had worked on Amphibian and Louse previously, but now they looked only a quarter scratched.

"How..."

"You really are silly, Anubis." Sedna chuckled. "Seth made us his plagues' generals, and I am an ocean deity. Amphibians like Amphibian and pests like Louse just _need me_ to feed them with my waters!" Sedna sent a shower of water at the two plagues, and as a matter of fact, the magical waters of Sedna increased Amphibian's size and Louse's parasites by ten.

Bacchus worked on engaging Kali in a battle of rock throwing, but the goddess was merely dodging him, for she was busy mixing some gunk in a wine glass. Maui tried sending Nile flying away by swinging his fishhook to create a water tornado to 'dry clean' him, but apparently, thanks to science proving that rain was none other than evaporated polluted water, Maui sending Nile flying only meant that the plague met the 'evaporated polluted water' and merged with it, turning into a cloud that down-poured blood rain.

Kory engaged in a fierce duel between her Asgardian sickle spear and the Aztec spear of Quetzalcoatl. "You will pay for what you did to my brother!"

"I did nothing! I am the king of serpents, he is bound to me!" Quetzalcoatl's head feathered agitated like snakes ready to bite and he raised his hands. The ground shook and tore a rift in the river, sinking the water in and allowing a massive green serpent emerged. His massive height horrified everyone, because should he ever fall down, he'd crush all of Nairobi in a matter of seconds. Captain America remembered Kory's ring and how tiny skulls were placed on the scales, but when he saw the real thing, the fifteen skulls were actually assembled into a chocker collar.

"Jormugand..." Kory was on the brink of tears.

" _S...S... Sister, help me!_ " Jormugand begged in an earth-shaking hiss while he was trapped in a golden glow that made him coil in pain.

"Midgard Serpent, my slave." Quetzalcoatl pointed at Kory. "Kill your sister."

Captain America stood between the children of Loki, holding his shield up to protect Kory the fanged attack of Jormugand.

"Are you _joking_?" Quetzalcoatl was angry. "You could swallow them whole!"

" _Never!_ " Jormugand hissed through his pain. " _You may be my master, Great and Cruel Quetzalcoatl, but my sister and I swore on the River Styx that we would never harm each other!_ "

"Than kill Captain America! His shield will make a nice pendant on..."

"GET HELP!"

Quetzalcoatl turned to see an orange portal opening and Loki being thrown at him, causing Quetzalcoatl to lose control of Jormugand.

"Hey, what do you know?" From the portal emerged Doctor Strange, Isis, Hera, Ishara, Spiderman, and Aaricia. Except for Doctor Strange, all of them were carrying guns bearing containments of purple fluids.

"Thanks for doing 'get help', Uncle Loki!" Aaricia waved at Loki, who groaned as he raised a thumbs-up.

" _What?_ " Kory was baffled.

"Mother!" Anubis was delighted.

"Great, it's my ancient Greek stepmother." Bacchus groaned.

"Nice to see you too," Hera said drily.

" _Spawn of Thor._ " Jormugand came to his senses and hissed violently. " _The Norns decreed that his blood shall meet my venom! You..._ "

"Alright, bye-bye!" Aaricia raised her hand, revealing Kaïra's finger on it. The Space Stone glowed just as a blue portal came from underneath Jormugand and sucked him in.

"What?" Kory freaked out when she saw her brother disappeared. She rushed to Aaricia. "Where did he go?"

"The Bermuda Triangle." Everyone stared at her. "What? I wasn't going to engage in the Fight of Destiny against your brother! Oh, by the way, Kaïra tried to use this to brainwash Doctor Strange into killing your dad for her." She took off her ring and gave it to Kory. "She threw it away when she thought she killed me."

Kory took the ring slowly. She stared at it and grimaced at Aaricia. " _You_ are GROUNDED on **SO MANY LEVELS!** "

Aaricia groaned.

Just then, Thor and Scarlet Witch crash-landed onto a building. Malaria and Precipitation ganged up with Nile, Amphibian, and Louse and melted into a goo that transformed into some sort of giant skeleton, its robes made of tars, its veins dropping as waterfalls, its head spiked, and its eyes glowing in fire.

" **WE are THE PLAGUES of EGYPT!** " Their mouth spoke in multiple voice echoes. " **FOR what YOU have committed, YOU will SUFFER by watching THE DEATH of Nairobi!** **YOU...** "

The arrivers aimed their guns at the behemoth and shot. Purple gas emerged and formed a giant cloud that covered the plagued fusion. The fusion started coughing, then wailing. They screamed as their physical components melted into a grey pond that rivaled the polluted water. When the screaming ceased, the gunk stopped moving. The plagues' human hosts were lying on the ground in their normal forms but breathing as though they had been trapped in a comatose stated.

"It worked!" Spiderman clasped his hands.

"Told you your genius brain could do it." Aaricia smirked.

"Hold on." Tony called a time-out. "You managed to create an anti-plague serum? When?"

 _Back in Istanbul, just before the arrivers came to Nairobi_

Because of the fight in Istanbul, all schools were closed early. Aaricia managed to sneak them all in the nearest school in midtown.

"You want me to create a cure for the plagues?"

"Or a neutralizer. But yeah, same concept."

"I don't understand where you're getting at," Ishara agreed with Spiderman.

"Isis mentioned that the plagues were forced to come with loopholes when designed to attack specific people, because without them, they are ordinary plagues that can claim anyone," Aaricia explained. "Without the loopholes, the original plagues could have killed anyone regardless if they were Egyptian or Hebrew. Holy water weakened Nile, solar heat melted Amphibian and Louse, and lavender knocked out Yatir. If we combine these and the potential loopholes for the next plagues before the last one, we might just be able to create a serum that will neutralize the plagues."

"You want me to create a serum that's supposed to fight off a bunch of magical plagues?" Spiderman asked incredulously.

"How many times are you not going to believe me?" Aaricia rolled her eyes. "You made your own webbing, you actually managed to hold off Barnes' metal arm and bring down Giant-Man in Germany, you saved people in a collapsing elevator in the Washington Monument, you tried to hold together the State Ferry when it ripped in half, you risked your life to fight some dangerous weapons dealers, you fought the plagues in New York, and you managed to tick off my sister's evil personality. AND YOU'RE CHICKENING OUT BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU CAN'T USE SCIENCE AGAINST MAGIC?"

Aaricia's intense anger scared the others. They could almost see the bolts in her eyes coming out.

"OK!" Spiderman chuckled nervously and rushed to grab the nearest lab coat. "I should be able to use the equipment in the lab, but I'll need holy water, lavender, and anything flammable. I should be able to use the shelved chemicals to create the vaccine components..."

"I can fetch holy water from the nearby sites," Doctor Strange volunteered.

"Give me five minutes and I can force my nephew Apollo to give us one of his sun rays," Hera volunteered.

"I still got leftovers of my lavender perfume." Aaricia offered.

"Nah, for this, I need organic lavender." Spiderman shook his head.

"Alright, I'll quickly go to the supermarket. You want them whole or grounded?" Ishara asked.

"I can help you in increasing your serum's effects on the plagues," Isis told Spiderman. "It won't damage them permanently, but it will ensure that your science is strong enough to hold against them."

 _Currently, in Nairobi_

"So, it's good enough to hold off the first nine plagues, but not the last plague," Spiderman finished.

"I don't believe it." Falcon was embarrassed. "We struggled for days to keep off the plagues and a kid comes up with the right medicine _an hour ago_?"

"Well Isis told Aaricia that without the loopholes, the plagues would hit anyone! And we all thought that Seth planned out in advance which plague would target which Avenger, but Yatir said that he'd avoid the obvious! That's why he sent Yatir after me. He was going to have her plague Iron Man by hurting me."

"And you wonder why I just wanted you to go home after you ran into Geb?" Tony glared at Spiderman before then turning to Anubis. "You never should have sent him!"

"She already knew I was going to be there. That explains why she sent copies of herself at the prisons of the bad gods!" Spiderman added before he remembered. "Geb told Seth that Anubis was sending me over to check on Isis... but he also told Anubis that Isis was in Istanbul around the same time as her copies freed the trio."

"Seth knew before I did." Anubis realized.

"Wait, where's Yatir?" Marion asked.

"We gave her a dose of Spiderman's serum and Doctor Strange dropped her off in a GAMA cell," Loki answered.

"But... if Yatir attacked Istanbul, that should have given Seth another landmark point and a new plague. But if all the current plagues are here and Yatir is locked up..."

"Where is the plague that's supposed to mark Istanbul?" Anubis finished Marion's sentence.

"You're looking at him!"

Spiderman only realized at the last second that Kali appeared behind him. The black gunk she had been mixing in a wine glass was now in a glass needle the size of her arm. The moment Spiderman turned his head, she poked his neck with the needle.

The boy screamed as the gunk transferred its way inside him.

"NO!" Iron Man screamed. He tried to reach out for Spiderman, but Hulk held him back. "Let go!"

"You should have listened to your protégé, Iron Man." Kali shook her head. "Now? You pay for your actions."

Quetzalcoatl regained his consciousness just in time to witness Spiderman screaming in agony as the black gunk spread itself all over him.

"Kali, what did you put in him?" Even Sedna was shocked.

"Well before I left India, Seth sent Louse to deliver me a piece of the Soul Stone, asking that in exchange for what I want most in the world, which is destruction, I create the vilest plagues you'll meet before the last one. Using my own blood, an Indian elephant's bone, the hearts of all bacterial diseases known to men, and some sentient symbiote I found on an asteroid, I created a formula enhanced by the Soul Stone fragment and I injected it in the boy... freshly delivered from Istanbul." Kali licked her lips. "He will be transformed into one plague at first, but the moment he is injured or killed in your 'heroic attempts' to save him, his first version will survive while a second one is born. In a matter of seconds, I will have given Seth the plagues of boils and darkness."

Kali raised her glowing hands at Spiderman, who screamed as his body was covered in black and red was boiling out of him, staining him and turning him into what looked like a humanoid mess of red and black.

"The youth of superheroes, rejected by the healthier, older ones above him!" Kali declared. "Your presence to them is that of a pest, not even your own mentor wants you! There is no warmth for you in his heart, so you will plague those he holds close! You will be disease that devastates the hearts of mean and women and the screams of their bodies rotting from your touch will be soothing music to me!"

The humanoid opened its eyes. It looked like the white eyes of Spiderman's mask, but these moved like sentient eyes. Empty, white eyes full of hatred and disdain. The creature opened its mouth, revealing fangs and a retractable pointy tongue. It wailed and hissed in fury.

"Don't worry, mother's here." Kali caressed the plague. "My child. My plague. You are now Carnage."


	22. The Fight of Istanbul-Nairobi, part 3

Chapter 22: The Fight of Istanbul-Nairobi, part 3

Everyone was beyond words.

"How could you?" Bacchus chocked.

"Seriously?" Kali asked. "I'm the goddess of destruction. It's not the first time I turn mortals into demons at my servitude."

"No! That you'd actually use a child as a host!"

"It's one thing to take adults with at least some military experience!" One of the Nimrod agents from Egypt agreed. "But a child? He'll be killed from the insides!"

"Oh, please!" Kali scoffed. "You're fussing over one child? I heard better screams when Anubis sent the final plague to steal the souls of a thousand Egyptian firstborns or when humans sacrificed their own young to us. Besides, do you honestly think that the UN would care if they kill one possessed child to save the rest?"

"That should be very conflicting," Sedna agreed. "Will they spill blood to kill Carnage and save the world or will they lose blood because they're afraid of losing Spiderman?"

"Let's find out." Kali petted Carnage. "Destroy."

Carnage screeched and jumped at anyone on sight. The UN soldiers started shooting at him despite Iron Man's begging, but Carnage jumped, crawled, and easily avoided the gunshots. He raised his hands and spikes grew out of him, impaling the soldiers. Their bodies stayed above the ground while the spikes stuck to the ground and were stained by their blood. A few Nimrod agents gave their shot as well, but Carnage gave them the same treatment as the soldiers from the U.N.

"Time for you to slow down!" Hawkeye shot arrows at Carnage, but just like Nile did back in Dupont, Carnage temporarily opened some holes in his body to let the arrows fly through. Falcon tried to intercept him from the sky, but Carnage spat school bus-sized webbings, trapping Falcon back to the ground in a sticky, black net.

"OK, you need your vaccine!" Ishara shot the anti-plague serum at Carnage, but when the purple gas cleared out, Carnage was still intact and struck Ishara out of the way.

"The vaccine... it didn't work?" Hera was shocked.

Carnage threw a spike at her and Isis, but Anubis sliced it away with his ankh scepter. "Spiderman, snap out of it!"

"He can't hear you!" Kali snickered while she, Sedna, and Quetzalcoatl lounged themselves as if they were in an outdoor movie theater and watching the greatest thriller movie ever.

"HULK SMASH!" Hulk let go of Iron Man to smash Carnage, but Carnage used his dark webbing to grab Hulk's wrists, yank him and slam him around, and toss all the way past the border of south Nairobi.

Loki and Kory were stunned to see the Hulk fly off like a green falling star. "No more games!" Kory turned into her half-Jotun form. Her father did the same and together, they blew an icy wind worthy of a blizzard. They blew for more than two minutes until they couldn't keep up much longer. When they stopped and the cold wind dissolved, they saw Carnage covered in icy blue... only to break the ice from the inside with one screech. Kory and Loki collapsed on the ground into their normal forms.

"Enough!" Thor shot bolts of lightning at Carnage, who contended himself by crawling the walls and performing the perfect jump to bite on Thor's arms. His fanged action was enough to pain the god of thunder himself. Thor fell and boils grew on the injury.

"Underoos, please!" Iron Man put himself in front of Carnage, only engaging him in attempts to claw off the suit. "Don't do this!"

"He won't listen to you." Kali smirked. "You never listen to him, he never listens to you. You never listened to him when he caught sight of criminals selling alien technology to others, and he didn't listen to you so that he could stop them. Carnage will never listen to you, so you will be able to listen to the sounds of him ripping you all apart... _one-by-one_."

"Yum. Diced flesh served with blood sauce." Quetzalcoatl licked his lips.

"Should we bring Seth some leftovers?" Sedna asked.

"No. He already thinks we're barbarians. Let's not convince him to fire us by giving him human flesh."

Doctor Strange tried to hold Carnage down with magical leashes but Carnage melted himself out and reformed, having the sorcerer doge the incoming spike. Meanwhile, perfectly hidden behind the rubble, Aaricia tried to think at what she was seeing. Carnage was easily beating down everyone. She had to think about how he could be defeated without harming Peter?

 _Using my own blood, an Indian elephant's bone, the hearts of all bacterial diseases known to men, and some sentient symbiote I found on an asteroid_ , Kali's words echoed. Aaricia remembered a movie where those who drank Kali's blood were broken out of their trance by being burned.

This was a risky plan, but it was worth a shot. With the rest too busy getting their butts kicked by Carnage, she pulled Anubis and Kory aside. She whispered to them her idea.

"No way!" Kory hissed.

"Then again, it could work." Anubis agreed.

"I mean, I know the words. If it worked with the full version, what's to say it won't work on a piece of it?" Aaricia said.

"It's too dangerous!" Kory protested.

"But it might snap Peter back to his senses. Maybe he could fight Carnage from the inside since we can't fight him from the inside." Aaricia gave her a pleading look and surrendered Kaïra's green ring to Aaricia. The girl merged the ring with her sword, creating a massive glow of blue bolts fabricated by the Space Stone. Aaricia emerged from her hiding spot, pointed her blade at Carnage's direction, and recited Kaïra's spell.

 _By the powers of Odin, my father, the wind master,_

 _And Laufey, my kin, the Frost giant,_

 _I who control this enchanted Infinity Stone,_

 _Have you, Stone bearer, become my servant._

 _Do as I wish this moment,_

 _It's not my bloods, but His fire burn you this instant!_

The bright day of Nairobi suddenly darkened. For a moment, everyone paused to see how the sky rumbled.

"Thor, what are you doing?" Captain America asked.

"That wasn't me..." The thunder god denied.

Only one massive bolt of thundering lightning emerged. It struck the blade of Aaricia's sword, and it must have been the most powerful bolt, since striking a sword merged with an Infinity Stone provoked a giant blue aura to glow around the girl as she sent a blast of blue fire at Carnage. It struck him right in the heart and Carnage screamed.

"I know you're in there!" She shouted. "You said great power comes with great responsibility, and the real person you are would never let a plague consume him!'

Her words seem to have been heard. Carnage was now tearing himself apart. Soon enough, they could see Spiderman fighting to force himself out of Carnage. As the inner conflict went on, Kali found himself unable to keep Carnage at her will.

"What are you doing?" Quetzalcoatl demanded.

"I can't!" Her eyes widened in horror. "She called Him!"

Quetzalcoatl and Sedna freaked out.

"Aaricia, what are you doing?" Marion called out over the noise.

"Helping Spiderman fight back!" Aaricia glared at Kali. "You thought plaguing a superhero would surpass the capacities of those of a plagued soldier, especially in your control, but you are wrong! You aren't dealing with some mere human law-follower blindly following the orders set out by Man's word, but the soul of a human who sought for protecting the innocents without seeking any reward! The only thing you control is your parasite Carnage, but the host is intact, and He has decided he will not be Carnage's host!"

The blast sent by her sword increased. As it did, they saw Carnage grabbing his own skin and ripping it away from it... and the real Spiderman threw the symbiote off him. He landed on the ground and fainted while Carnage hit a rock and split in two: one morphing into his original self, and the other merging into a darker, bulkier, and black-and-white version of Carnage.

"Now GO!" Aaricia shot blasts at the trio. "Leave before He makes a decision, because for the record, a quarter of his powers is far more dangerous than that of an Infinity Stone!"

The trio wasted no time and teleported themselves away, taking Carnage, his new double, and the unconscious plagues with them. The sky cleared.

Iron Man ran to Spiderman, took him in his arms, and removed the mask to see Peter's still unconscious face. "Kid? Kid!" He shook him to wake him up.

"He's still alive." Anubis checked the boy's pulse.

"They didn't take him?" Hawkeye was shocked.

"Kali used some sort of alien symbiote on him," Aaricia explained. "Her recipe and Seth's Soul Stone fragment gave it the same function as that of the other plagues, but because the symbiote acts on its own, it doesn't require his body on a full-on basis. Carnage can live in any form he pleases, with or without a host, and because he took over Spiderman, Carnage's powers increased from the radioactive spider cells in his body. Kali made a poor choice in a host, though."

"You knew he'd never surrender, did you?" Kory asked.

"He was temporarily incapacitated, but not full-on enslaved." Aaricia shrugged.

"Still, I can't believe it..."

"That there's actual evidence that the hosts can resist the plagues?" Loki asked.

"No... That Kaïra actually managed to enchant an Infinity Stone by summoning Him, and the first thing she used it for was to enchant Doctor Strange into killing you." Kory freaked out. "Why would He do that? I'm supposed to be a disgrace to Him!"

"Girls, we need to pick this up later," Anubis said. "We need to bring Spiderman back to GAMA. Zoë has to treat him."

 _Meanwhile, in Sarasota_

It was mayhem for the Avengers, Anubis, and co in Nairobi, but in Sarasota, it was paradise for Zoë. The day had been entirely off from work for her and Bonnie. They managed to do their early morning jogging at Lido Beach and collect some seashells to add to Bonnie's new line of pottery. Then there was grocery shopping at the Farmer's Market, taking Barnes mini-golfing at this mini-golf course that also served as the home of baby alligators that could be fed, brunch, visiting the Mote Aquarium, and kayaking in the bay.

And like a firework rocket getting released before the Fourth of July, Barnes had invited Zoë over for dinner.

"Sometime, you'll have to teach me your tricks, Florence Nightingale," Bonnie had joked while helping Zoë get dressed for dinner.

"Barnes' just being grateful." Zoë had shrugged while brushing her hair and tying it in a ponytail.

"Sure." Bonnie rolled her amused eyes. "Nothing speaks 'gratitude' better than a killing machine saving your life twice, calling you pretty and nice, couch surfing, and inviting you for dinner."

Zoë just shot her a glare.

It was now nearly 8pm. Zoë was in her best royal blue dress and with the Celtic earrings Bonnie lent her. Barnes had taken her to a nice seafood restaurant at St. Armand's Circle. They were just finishing their blue crab dishes and chuckling at each other's stories, with Zoë telling Barnes about some of the mishaps she and Bonnie encountered during their first missions and Barnes recounting the adventures he had with Captain America from their childhood to the war.

"You finally remember your friend and the way you tell him is 'You used to put newspapers in your shoes'?" Zoë couldn't stop laughing.

"Yep."

"That is probably the weirdest thing I ever heard from somebody who stepped out of amnesia."

"Eh." Barnes shrugged. "We're old people stuck in youth. Humor is corny at our age."

Zoë smiled, but then it faltered.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"No, I'm just trying to not think so much about how if things don't work out in Nairobi, we might be on Seth's firstborn chopping list."

"It won't happen." Barnes tried to reassure her. "The Avengers managed to stop worse. I mean, they prevented an alien invasion and an A.I's attempt of destroying humanity."

"These were different." Zoë shook her head. "Those attacks targeted _anyone_ , but you and I know what it's like when there's a war and the enemy has a _specific_ target."

Barnes nodded. After all, he did serve in the Second World War.

"You know, there's something I've been meaning to ask," he said. "If pagan gods exist, does the..."

Zoë knew immediately what he was going to say. "We never use the capital G word. We just say 'Him'. With a capital H. And yes, he exists, but we avoid addressing him. The..." She hesitated. "The immortals are terrified of Him."

" _If only His might could save us._ "

Zoë and Barnes jumped in a startle. They recognized the hissing voice of Medusa and they saw her pull a chair to sit next to them. She wore a dark blue turban to hide her snakes, though their hissing could still be heard, and to go with the sunglasses hiding her empty eye-sockets, Medusa had a walking stick.

"We didn't pay yet. Would you like some coffee?" Zoë asked.

" _No, but since you are too kind, I would very much like some tea_." Medusa straightened herself on her chair. " _Seth's words have hit my sisters. They fought each other to the point that they killed each other... Seth didn't have to release a plague, but he managed to kill my firstborn and second-born sister. A mental war so the immortal firstborns can just kill between each other, and to make matters worse, the Nairobi convention has failed._ "

"Are you sure?" Barnes asked.

" _I swear on the River Styx that I do not lie. I have seen the footage. Seth had Kali use a young mortal superhero as a plague host... the boy crawling on walls._ "

Barnes recalled the fight at the airport in Germany. He remembered the small, high-pitched individual in a spider-themed costume who had sided with Iron Man and yet still had time to geek out over Barnes' metal arm. "There's no way Spiderman would have been corrupted."

" _He has escaped, but Kali placed a spell that not only allowed her parasite of a plague to still live without its host, but to duplicate once it was ripped out of his master. While Sedna and Quetzalcoatl have created a plague each, Kali has given Seth two: Carnage, the plague of boils, and Venom, the plague of darkness._ "

They paused their conversation in order to avoid alarming the waiter who came to check on them. Zoë and Barnes declined any coffee but Medusa asked for a peppermint tea. Once the order was placed, the waiter left and the trio resumed their conversation.

"So that means there's one more plague left before Seth sends the last one." Zoë pondered. "But from where can the locust plague be from? He already hit Egypt, the US, Wakanda, Norway, South America, Canada, India, Turkey, and Nigeria. But only eight have shown up."

" _And Seth sent the Plague of Flies to attack the young one in Istanbul. Her attack marked Turkey and Carnage, and when the spell was ripped off, the battle in Nairobi marked Nigeria and Venom._ "

"So it means that India still doesn't have a plague yet!" Zoë realized. "But... why didn't Seth just ask Kali to give him three?"

" _Too risky._ " Medusa shook her head. " _Besides, Seth would have to be mad to even trust Kali with more than one fragment of the Soul Stone. Evil gods working together does not justify that they trust each other. BUT, since evil gods don't have strong bonds like good people do, they know where to hit._ "

"So let's see if we can sum things up." Barnes did the list. "8 plagues now. Each marking a country with mythology. Contrary to popular belief, the plagues will take _anyone_ as a host."

" _And the evil side of Loki's daughter has discovered a spell that allows the bearer of one Infinity Stone to control another bearer. The worst we can expect: either Anubis temporarily fuses with the other Infinity Stones and burns himself away to save us all, or Seth does away with us and hands the Infinity Stones to the one he owes, or He will just smite us and kill us all._ "

Barnes just stared at her. "You never got out much from that abandoned airport, did you?"

Medusa bit her lips miserably.

"I might have a theory," Zoë snapped her fingers, "but we need to get back to GAMA to have a word with Anubis. Medusa, since you know more about ancient relics than we possibly could, do you anything about, I don't know, potentially powerful fossils that could enhance mortal capacities?"

Medusa frowned. " _Yes. It's not uncommon._ "

"Well... do you know anything about..." She leaned over and whispered it in Medusa's ear. Her shocked gasp synchronized with her snakes' equally shocked hissing.

" _How could a mere mortal have found it when two goddess lost it during a battle with the purpose to claim it?_ "

"That's what we'll take about once we get to GAMA. Waiter! I need the receipt!"

 _Much later, in GAMA_

Things were turning out horrible for Anubis.

Spiderman was being taken cared of in the GAMA infirmary. Zoë had placed a plastic-concealing mask on Spiderman's face during the treatment, a kind manner to hide his identity. For two hours, she managed to work on removing any potential bacterial hazard and made sure to reboot him for every calorie he lost during the procedure. Doctor Strange helped her by using his magic to calm down the patient's nervous reactions and tranquilize his traumatized memories of being possessed by Carnage.

Anubis was waiting like the rest of the Avengers, only the others weren't giving him death glares like Tony Stark did while he was pacing. Isis held her child close, comforting him with maternal warmth he didn't feel for a year now. Marion was also waiting silently next to him.

"I should have told you about Aaricia," he told Marion in a guilty tone.

She stared at him with an expression of what seemed to be a mixture of anger and relief. "Your UNBEARING loyalty to me is the only thing keeping me from SLAPPING you for lying to me!"

"You might want to slap him..." Tony grimaced.

"SHUT IT, STARK!" Marion yelled at him. Her raised voice shocked everyone, even the demigods and Aaricia, who were in the next room arguing between each other, paused when they heard Marion's yell making the sound-proof walls vibrate. She turned to face Anubis. "Your constant need to put others before you is getting UNBEARABLE! It's great, but UNBEARABLE! Heck, this irritates me more than you lying about the whole 'my neutral grandfather spirited Aaricia away to some chaotic sitcom with Spiderman, Loki, three Turkish bath geek goddesses, and her crazy sister manipulating Doctor Pinocchio!' Not only does your unbearable need suffocate others, you're strangling yourself with it! MAN UP A BIT!"

Anubis cringed and shrunk sizes until he was now a whimpering baby jackal. He jumped off Isis' hold and fled under the vending machine. Marion's anger dissolved when she saw she made Anubis cry in a weakened form. "I'm sorry!" She knelt down by the vending machine.

"He knows you have his best intentions," Isis knelt down next to her. "He's just used to being screamed at by people who have a tooth against him."

"I got ten against him right now..." Tony said.

"Stark, does the concept of 'shut up' mean anything to you?" Marion snapped at him.

"What do you expect me to do? He endangered the kid's life!"

" _He_ endangered Spiderman's life? FYI, if you didn't want Spiderman's life to be endangered, maybe you shouldn't have brought him to Germany when you Avengers had your tantrum! Maybe you shouldn't have given his suit! Maybe you should have just told Ross that Spiderman was a teenager and the guy would have no problem putting the dude in the Raft! Maybe you shouldn't have brought him in THIS mess! Take some responsibility before you blame others!"

"Kid, I've taken responsibility longer than you have!" Tony pointed his finger at her.

"Oh, sure!" Marion snarked. "Genius millionaire playboy needed to get his stone heart snapped to realize his technology was being exploited, his bigmouth hits the dignity of everyone and almost got him killed multiple times, just HAD to show off your AMAZING skills and led discord on the Helicarrier, trash-talked a terrorist, and oh my gosh, need I go further with Ultron and your man-child tantrums? But what do I know, right? I'm just a farm girl with her folks dead and the mummification god as a roommate, working with a shadow-covered organization that shields ancient people from human prejudice, and yeah, at the same time WE'RE DEALING WITH MY ROOMMATES' PSYCHO PATERNAL WHO WANTS TO DESTROY EVERYONE OR ELSE SOMEONE ELSE WOULD DO IT! So throw your crap for all you want, Armor Boy, but don't start acting like a saint while others had to deal with crap worse than yours FOR AT LEAST SINCE ANTIQUITY!"

"Hey, everyone, we..." Zoë and Bonnie came in and froze when they saw Tony literally cringing, Marion's face reddening, and everyone else looking either stunned or terrified while Anubis was still hidden under the vending machine. Hera and Ishara merely went on by reading the Hollywood Entertainment magazines.

"Do we even want to know what happened?" Zoë whispered to Bonnie.

"It's the Avengers and immortals in a GAMA waiting room," Bonnie remarked. "This ain't Disney Channel."

"OK!" Zoë's hands clasped on the clipboard she was holding. "Good news: the kid will live, we just gave him some sedatives, so he's taking a long nap."

"Bad news: he's very likely to die in his sleep if we don't figure out how to stop the last plague," Bonnie said flatly. Zoë glared at her.

"Can't we just paint every door with lamb blood?" Rhodey asked. "I mean, the Ancient Testament literally gives the cure for it."

Isis looked uneasily at her son as he shrunk himself further deep in the shadows underneath the vending machine.

"Yes, before you ask, He, with a capital H, does exist," Zoë reassured the confused ones, "but we avoid using the G-word. The immortal pagans are terrified of Him. And no, we can't just go ask Him to finish off Seth. It would be exposing the truth of immortals and it would put both parties in utter embarrassment."

"But didn't Aaricia mention Him when she summoned that bolt to rip Carnage off Spiderman?" Cap asked.

"Yes, but only because it was part of the spell Kaïra used. She casted it on the Space Stone and she used the Space Stone to control the Time Stone on Doctor Strange."

"Normally the Stones don't do that... unless His power had an influence on the spell," Bonnie said. She looked at Marion. "Last time I checked, Kory takes her deity's power very seriously. It's the thing with demigods born into mortal monotheist. They declare: 'My pagan family exists, but they did not bring their duties to the world. It's MY deity who is all-powerful and the real G-word.' Even Kory's evil personality knows she should never challenge His might."

"Still, why would... You-Know-Who..." Banner hesitated.

"Are you serious? Are you seriously using Voldemort's nickname to describe Him?" Zoë gasped.

"I don't know how to talk about... whatever we're talking about... without sounding so offensive."

"He doesn't mind being called 'The Unseen One'," Anubis' voice perked from the vending machine. "He let me address HIM this way."

"Because you actually met Him?" Captain's question made Anubis hide himself further. "It makes sense."

"What makes sense?" Romanoff frowned.

"Everyone grew up to learn how the Exodus happened in the Ancient Testament, but it strictly said it was Him who gave Moses the duty to free the Hebrews from Egypt or else He'd unleash his plagues," Cap explained. "Yet, we find out the Egyptian god of mummification was behind the plagues, yet history refuses to acknowledge his contribution. Either the people back then refused to believe that one of their enemies' gods would help them... or Anubis asked Him for His permission."

Hera and Ishara glared at Isis. "Might as well spit it out, Izzy," Hera said.

"Don't call me Izzy. Ishara doesn't like it when we call her Sarah and you don't like it when we call you Harry." Isis' comment made Hera shut up. Isis sighed and responded to Cap's theory.

"Anubis _did_ give Moses the Ten Plagues of Egypt, but what numerous don't know is that back then, Anubis didn't have the power to create such plagues on a dangerous scale. Like many gods, he could create any plague but they could target anyone like the flu can target anyone. To create plagues that would target the Egyptians specifically and spare only the Hebrews, it would require a very powerful divine boost.

"You might ask why he didn't use the Eye of Ra. He couldn't. Until last year, the Eye of Ra was kept to protect the Rapharions' city, and as the guardian of the Eye of Ra, he could not just take it to destroy three-quarters of the country's population. Not to mention that my husband Osiris never let Anubis use the Eye of Ra due to mistrusting him for his status as Seth's son. Since he knew he couldn't use the Eye, Anubis committed an act that most polytheist would consider suicidal now: he traveled to a Hebrew religious site and _begged_ Him to let Anubis help His people.

"He could have smitten him on the spot. He could have refused Anubis' desperate act and shamed him on the spot. Instead, He allowed Anubis to use a quarter of His powers to empower his plagues from ordinary to catastrophic. As long as Anubis took no credit or asked for recognition, and as long as Moses continued to unleash the plagues on Egypt and say it was His message of protection for His children, He'd allow Anubis to fulfill his wish."

"So yes, the texts weren't wrong when they said He sent the Plagues since it was His force that gave them their dangerous powers." Kory had just come out of the room she was in with her friends. " He gave them breath of life, Moses delivered them... and Anubis just came up with the blueprints."

"How did things go with Aaricia?" Marion bit her lip.

"My ears still ache from her yelling, but I'm dealing with bigger problems." She turned to face Cap. "I need to do something. Can you keep an eye on Aaricia and Fjordson?"

"Of course." Cap nodded.

"Now's not the time to go praying, Loki Junior!" Tony groaned until Kory turned into her Jotun form and threatened him by throwing ice shards at him.

"Now's not the time to mock me, Stark! I have to go pray and beg to my Lord that He will spare Aaricia and me after the mess my evil personality made in Istanbul! I'm going to Mount Sinai, so try not to tear each other apart while I'm gone!"

She stormed out, leaving a trail of ice behind her. A rattling sound came from the vending machine and they all saw that Anubis had managed to break into the vending machine and started devouring every snack available.

"No, Anubis! No emotional feeding! Bad jackal!" Marion unlocked the machine and grabbed Anubis. Bonnie almost played tug-of-war just to pull the Doritos bag out of Anubis' mouth. He growled in frustration until Marion gave him a rolled newspaper to chew on.

"Look, we're running out of time and there's still the Plague of Locusts left before the final one!" Zoë straightened her glasses. "Anubis, if the plagues can be hosted by any human, whether they are military, priests, or superheroes, could they be hosted by somebody who might be possessing a close-to-divine artifact?"

Anubis perked his head up and stopped chewing. "Maybe?" He said. "Why?"

"Remember the bone?"

"Yes, why?"

"I know a mortal who dug it out."

"That can't be!" Ishara leaned on her chair. "The bone was buried in the layers!"

"What's so important about the bone?" Banner asked. He got his answer when Thor came in, with an upset expression when he saw what Anubis did to the vending machine.

"Before the Infinity Stones were placed under guard, they were dispersed around the universe depending on how the powerful individuals used them. Before the Aether, the substance bearing the Reality Stone, was placed under the dark elves' guard, it originally came to Earth and survived by draining out the life of the living organisms. It met its match, however, when a Titanosaurus managed to resist the Aether's influence."

"We dubbed it the Infinitosaurus," Ishara commented.

"When the dinosaurs became extinct, the Aether was still in the body of the Infinitosaurus and followed it through fossilization. 5000 years ago, around the Late Period of Egypt and what the Hebrews call the First Day of the Universe, the Aether was extracted and given to the dark elves' custody until Malekith planned to exploit it and my grandfather fought it, hiding away the Aether. Removing the Aether destroyed the majority of the fossilized Infinitosaurus."

"But then around the time of Medieval India, it was discovered that there was a rib fragment of the dinosaur's fossil, the only survivor of the fossil's disintegration," Ishara held up her thumb to indicate the fragment's size. "Thumb-sized and completely turned into a red crystalized relic, the bone had absorbed a good amount of the Reality Stone's power, and millions of years of being hardened caused it to harden and become a permanently powerful relic. A young mortal Indian ruler unexpectedly found it while he was leading the digging for his palace's foundations, and when he found out the crystalized bone could allow the bearer to gain access to the advantages of a dinosaur, he decided to turn it over to the Hindu gods."

"Smart move." Tony nodded.

"Well, it was... until Kali decided she wanted it for herself and she and Durga fought over it. Their conflict caused a week's worth of earthquakes all over the country, they didn't realize that the mortal ruler decided to send the bone back where he found it. He threw it into the earth as it moved due to the earthquakes, so by the time they were done fighting, it was buried back where he found it."

"Durga rewarded him with years of prosperity," Hera said. "The bone wasn't seen ever since."

"Until now." Zoë nodded. "I... know this paleontologist that I met in Phoenix. She and her husband went to India and found the bone while digging out fossils."

"Did you try to convince her to turn the crystalized bone over?" Wanda asked.

"I tried, but she told me it was too late. I tried to tell her that the bone should not come in contact with the human flesh, but she told me the crystalized bone immediately joined with her son. It sensed he was ill and it somehow decided it could 'help'... by bonding the kid with an amulet he can't take off and will now allow him to use any dinosaur capacity." Zoë's eyes narrowed. "I worry that the evil gods might go after her son if Seth wants to use the crystalized bone empowered by an Infinity Stone to mark India for the Plague of Locusts!"

Just then, a rumbling sound came from above. Medusa immediately stormed in, her eyeball-less face panicked.

" _SEDNA IS FLOODING THE METRO ACCESS TO GAMA!"_


	23. Metro Flood

Chapter 23: Metro Flood

It turned out that Sedna didn't just take the liberty of solely flooding the access through the Green-Yellow line.

GAMA immediately pulled the news channel. From what the mortals managed to understand, the Potomac had a freak tide rise and it struck all the metro lines. Police ordered all civilians to stay on the main ground and for any passenger on the metro lines to get out as soon as they could reach the next station.

"The entirety of GAMA's entrances through the metro lines are blocked by walls of water," Tiresias told the leaders of the divisions. "Sedna won't cease until she ensures that our headquarters are flooded. Evacuate all agents and prepare to transfer the headquarters to our secondary location in the National Mall!"

"Yes, sir!"

Every agent reacted to the news of their leaders with complete preparedness. The Registration Division agents grabbed all their files, cleared their desks, and removed all their technology before the leader pushed the button that allowed the building to shrink and turn to doll size. The Science Division agents arranged their medication, serums, lab equipment, and their first aid kits into suitcases before their leader also shrunk the building and carried it in her hands. The Nimrods urged the INs out of the building and gathered all their weapons and dossiers before the leader also shrunk the building. As the area now returned into the empty cavern it once was, a rumbling sound came from the ceiling. The GAMA agents ran out through emergency exits unconnected to the metro lines while the Avengers and their allies stayed behind.

"You people are crazily prepared." Tony scanned the area. "The whole cavern has infusions of adamantium to prevent collapses."

"Only for case scenarios like mortals finding our entrances or potential INs attacking!" Zoë shouted over the chaos.

Barnes and Medusa came to join them after they finished evacuating the rest of the Science Division. "What now, Zoë?" Barnes asked.

"Tiresias wants us to flush Sedna out of here. He's going to seal all the exits except one that meets a sewage outfall leading straight to the Potomac!" She traced the plan on the ground with her finger. "Here's the plan. Sedna won't stop her flood until she manages to break into the entrances. Bonnie uses her banshee screams to break every single entrance open. When the water starts pouring in, Kory and Loki will ice the water so we don't drown. Bacchus uses his vines to drain out the water and help Maui channel the water through the exit and back onto the river. The Hulk and Ant-Man need to stay put in case we need their strength to keep the ground up. Falcon and Vision will be the flying attack force, Wanda, Iron Man, War Machine, and the goddesses will be blasting on the side, while everyone else helps on the flooding ground level. And Thor and Aaricia need to be ready when we electrocute the water to knock Sedna out. Any questions?"

"Yeah, where's Doctor Strange?" Banner asked.

"He went home after we were done with Spiderman, and yes, Spiderman was safely evacuated with the others. Anything else?"

"A major bad one. How are we supposed to deal with Sedna when Anubis is stuck like this?" Marion raised Anubis in her hands. He was still in his pouting puppy mode.

"Are you _kidding me_?" Zoë gritted her teeth. "What the Hell did the bad guys do to him in Nairobi to demoralize him? He's going to be stuck in puppy mode and Sedna will make a meal out of him!"

"I'll take them out through the exit," Barnes raised his metal hand.

"You sure about this, Bucky?" Cap asked.

"Hey, the dog will need a sitter in case things get rusty."

"I heard that, Arm Wrestler!" Anubis snapped.

Zoë groaned, and to everyone's shock, she planted a kiss on Barnes' cheek. "You're awfully sweet. NOW GET OUT!" She pointed at the exit. Barnes, a bit blushing, nodded and led the way for Marion as she carried Anubis.

" _I'm useless! I'll follow them_!" Medusa ran after them until they disappeared in the darkness.

"Wow. I guess the dinner date went well." Bonnie smirked at Zoë.

"Shut up and use your voice to break the entrances open."

Bonnie nodded and morphed into her usual banshee appearance. Everyone blocked their ears as she unleashed a metal shattering wail. The entrances exploded and water came pouring in, draining the water out of the metro lines. Iron Man kept track of the time it took for each metro line to flush out the flood, and one line at a time, he alerted to Kory and Loki, who moved around to block the entrances with ice while the water that came in was sent through the exit by Maui and Bacchus. It took about thirty minutes, but the metro was finally water-free. Kory and Loki collapsed upon joining the others.

"A whole river... And yet, we saw no sign of Sedna." Kory panted.

"She can't go through the ice. Jotun ice is stronger than the ice that sunk the Titanic," Loki pointed out. He spoke too soon: a series of cracking sound, like cracking glass, echoed throughout the cavern, and everyone rushed to find a good standing point while the cavern flooded. A portion of water rose and formed a water-formed version of Sedna.

"Clever plan, Hazelfields," the water clone admitted.

"Where's your mistress?" Thor demanded.

"Seriously? Did you actually believe she'd come in person?" The clone snickered. "Kali gave her massive contribution, Sedna offered to give something to Seth just as good."

"Drowning Gama?" Tony asked.

"And they call you a genius." The clone shook her head. "Like flushing away a hundred mortals and immortals would interest him. Frankly, my mistress hopes to see some of you drown and maybe give you some tips of how to endure."

"Oh, shit! The myth!" Ant-man lowered his head.

"What myth?" Banner turned his head to look at Ant-Man.

"Wait, you guys don't know how Sedna became... you know, Ice Queen of the Ocean? I had this Alaskan in-mate back in jail. Mentioned the story about some chick who got drowned by her family and she became a goddess."

"And my mistress thought mortals over-exploited the popularity of the Mediterranean gods." The water-clone clapped her hands. "A fine maiden, tricked into marrying a bird spirit posing as a handsome, mortal hunter. Her father and brothers tried to save her, but they threw her overboard when the spirit threatened to kill them all." She waved the watery versions of her appendages. "Oh, and lets not forget how she clung onto the kayak and they struck her fingers with their oars. Walruses, seals, and whales were created and some decades later, Sedna replaced her lost limbs with these metal beauties."

"So what? Sedna hopes to turn us into sea mammals and make us Seth's personal Navy?" Hawkeye kept his arrow pointed at the clone.

"Sorry." The clone held her hands up and more water clones of Sedna appeared. "You guys are more of a distraction."

 _Meanwhile_

Marion held Anubis tightly in her arms while Barnes helped her get down from the sewage outfall. Medusa pulled herself out and quickly ushered them to the mainland.

"What now?" Barnes asked.

"We're not too far from Georgetown. I know a guy who works at the Sprinkles shop. We can wait there until further instructions and..." She sighed as she looked at Anubis, still whimpering in his puppy mode. "I know you're not really in a good mood right now, but I need you in your regular shape!"

"Why? So I can be reminded that I'm a failure? So I can be reminded that regardless of whether we defeat or lose to Seth, there's a fifty-percent chance that I might lose you?" He jumped off her arms and went to curl by a bush.

"Are you being serious? You snapped to Quetzalcoatl that it wouldn't change you when he tried that talk in Nairobi! And yes, I'm still a bit angry, but I forgave you for lying about Aaricia and Spiderman! But you're the only god around here who has a shot against Sedna if she's around the area!"

Oddly enough, Marion's sentence ended with a massive flush of water coming from the outfall. The group looked relieved when they saw the water returning to the river, but their relief turned to horror. Instead of refilling the entire river, the water stayed in the same area, forming and moving in one giant wet circle. From the mists the circle was creating, Sedna, in flesh and bones, appeared.

"Shit!" Barnes cussed while he and Marion pulled out their guns, pointing them at Sedna. Sedna merely snapped her fingers and a water lasso dragged Anubis to the river.

"No!" Marion shot at Sedna. The goddess shot water at the bullets, freezing and crushing them in sight. Anubis was almost pulled into the circle when snakes caught him in their coils and pulled the young god back to the shore. They joined their siblings in Medusa's serpentine hair while dropping Anubis in their mistress's hands.

"Thanks," he said. Medusa gave him a smile with her blind face.

Marion sighed in relief to see Anubis in safety and turned to glare at Sedna. "You and your pals are good, I'll give you that! The feathered snake and the centipede arms merely went with verbally disabling Anubis and Seth had you go kidnap him while he was physically weakened!"

Sedna laughed as she advanced to the shore, breaking their attempts to shoot at her. "You're a clever one, I'll give you that. And frankly enough, Anubis resisted Quetzalcoatl's emotion manipulation much more than anticipated. Yet something escapes me." Sedna paused the moment her foot landed on the ground. Medusa backed away, Barnes and Marion still had their guns out, and the water rose up, sharpening into water spears the size of the Washington Monument.

Sedna gave a murderous look at Marion. "What is that you have, and I, THE SEA GODDESS, don't, that pushes THE GOD OF MUMMIFICATION into mindlessly devoting such undying loyalty and love to a SECOND-RATED MORTAL LIKE YOU?" She screamed in so many areas of her questions, her water spears shook and made trembling sounds like those of a hurricane.

"You got to be kidding!" Barnes rolled his eyes and looked at Anubis. "How long has she been hitting on you?"

Anubis shuddered.

" _Ever since she had been tricked into marriage with a bird spirit who obliged her family to drown her unless they wanted to all perish at sea, Sedna desperately loves anyone she'd want for herself... regardless of whether or not the male's feelings are unrequited!_ " Medusa explained. " _Anubis was the god tasked into sealing away the evil gods, and when Sedna became smitten by him, she tried to seduce him in the hopes that he'd spare him from imprisonment._ "

"Seriously? That's... Oh!" Marion remembered what Asu had said back in Wakanda, about how 'Sedna seeks revenge of her unrequited love interest and jailer.' "Man, that's messed up! You've been stalking him for centuries?"

"And Seth gives me permission to end it!" Sedna pointed her hands at Marion and Barnes, ordering her water spears to start shooting at them. Knowing that their guns would be ineffective, Marion and Barnes put them away and relied on their human instincts to jump, dodge, and duck from the water threatening to impale them. Barnes moved faster than Marion and got as close as he could to Sedna. He aimed to punch at her face with his metal arms, but she had two of those and managed to use them to catch his arm.

Medusa, in the time being, rushed to the sidewalk. She partially freaked out the old couple and their grandchildren feeding ducks. " _Excuse me. Could you please keep an eye on him?_ " She asked them. The old couple was baffled, but the grandchildren eagerly dragged in Anubis to play with him. Medusa looked back at the dried out Potomac. Marion was looking beyond angry and was holding up Sedna's arms. The goddess had already sent Barnes flying into a yacht and decided to crush Marion with her metal arms, but the redhead was too stubborn and kept her ground. Medusa scowled in anger. All of a sudden, the scenario reminded her of how she was once too like Marion: a mortal who had fallen for the charms of a god and an envious goddess butting in. Then again, the contrast was that Medusa had been a priestess who broke her celibate oath after being seduced by Poseidon and the Gorgons' curse was also due to family hubris. Marion was different. She didn't give a damn of what others thought, but she clearly loved Anubis not for his divinity, but for his personality. Medusa looked back at Anubis, who ignored the grandchildren to look at the battle with a worried look.

That worried look clearly had the genuine affection, not the superficial one Poseidon had given her.

Oh yeah. What was up with sea gods being involved in these messy love affairs?

" _It's scary, isn't it?_ " She coldly asked Anubis. " _Sedna and your partner are pretty much fighting over you, and you're just sitting their like the wet dog you're posing as._ "

"Highly observant for a blind Gorgon," Anubis sighed. "But I'd only make it worse. If I intervene, Sedna's going to go in hurricane mode due to increased jealousy. She'd probably do anything to make sure that her opponent is dead during the final plague. Queztalcoatl's words were right, you know. I bet that whatever I do, I'll lose Marion."

" _You are pathetic, you know that?_ " Medusa was irritated. " _I have heard of gods who seduced mortal women and waved their hand in goodbye to move forward with the next fling. I was charmed by Poseidon, and look at me now._ " She waved her hand over her body. " _Too many eras later and I'm still an ancient monster. But you? She must be the only person who actually cares for you outside of your divine circle, and the only thing you can think is to protect her from yourself... by shutting YOUR emotions in. And I don't think it's fair that Marion is fighting with the entirety of her love to protect her beloved from his lifelong annoying stalker while you..._ " Medusa stopped talking when she realized that Anubis was no longer there. No, he was running towards the river... while still in his puppy mode.

"Have you ever considered being a motivational speaker?" The man from the elderly couple casually asked Medusa.

" _Really? Uh. It looks like getting away from my sisters and the airport is REALLY good for me._ " Medusa clasped her hands on her hips.

"But how can you still know what's going on even though you don't have eyes?"

" _It doesn't make sense, but since I don't have my petrifying eyes to distract my view and my senses are connected to those of my snakes, I have a new 180 degrees angle. I'm also able to sense vibrations."_

"Your snakes are cool. Can we touch them?" The kids asked.

" _I'd rather you didn't. 90% of my hair is a bunch of mini versions of the world's 600 species of venomous snakes..._ " Medusa paused and smiled. " _You kids just gave me a good idea!_ "

 _Meanwhile_

Just when Medusa was coming up with an idea, Sedna had managed to pin down Marion. She had water hands tighten themselves on her neck and pull her off the ground. Marion was struggling to breathe and she was already in pain from the scratches she got, courtesy of Sedna. She struggled for air while Sedna glared at her.

" _Did you honestly think that a mortal would actually earn a god's eternal love?"_ Sedna snarked. " _Even if he did, he'd only outlive you. The only good thing that would come out of your silly fantasy is death!_ "

"Then I guess I'll see him again in the afterlife... because that's somewhere you can never go, Sedna, since you're immortal. And Anubis is the god of mummification, so..." She chuckled as the water tightened around her neck. "Looks like you'll have to stick being an eternally scorned lady."

Sedna's fury caused all the water to freeze into ice. Her fingernails sharpened themselves and she aimed for Marion's neck.

A furious growl came and a car-sized jackal jumped on Sedna. The enraged jackal god tackled Sedna, scaring her enough to release Marion. Barnes had just come to the scene and helped Marion get up when they heard the strange mixture of a bite and an earth-shaking scream. Anubis stepped back, revealing his mouth covered in blood. He made more space to reveal Sedna crying and her hands covered in blood while they tended to the damage he had done to her face.

Sedna was known for having no fingers, but it's very likely that now, the 21st century will remember that a Rapharion disfigured her because she tried to kill the one he loved.

Anubis spit out a piece of Sedna's nose in disgust. He turned towards Barnes and Marion.

"I can't excuse myself for my recent behavior."

Before he could lower his head, Marion walked up to him. She didn't care much about the potential bloodstains, she still held his muzzle up and smiled at him. "You're insufferably loveable. You know that."

Anubis looked overjoyed. He morphed into his human form and proceeded to embrace Marion in his arms.

 _Ra, morning and evening star._

 _Spread darkness from afar_

 _So that Apophis may smite_

 _And drown you into the night!_

Anubis chocked. He began to spit blood.

"Anubis?" Marion asked.

He collapsed into her arms. His breathing went too rapid and his body stiffened.

"Anubis!" Marion screamed.

"He's getting a heart attack!" Barnes checked the young god's pulse. That's when they noticed the Eye of Ra blinking and the Soul Stone glowing insanely in the pattern of a over-beating heart. A snickering alerted them and they saw the Soul Stone fragment Sedna held in her hands. The water agitated around her and the wind blew on her blood-covered face.

"What the Hell did you do to him?" Barnes pointed his gun at Sedna. Anubis' heavy breathing got worse.

"He's slipping into a temporary death reaction. Many spells had to be created for the guardian to use the Eye of Ra, but after what Seth did to his own brother and almost got destroyed for using it, Osiris created a fail-safe spell in case Anubis went out of line." Sedna put the fragment safely in her dress. "Seth will revive him when I bring Anubis to him."

"How could you?" Marion held on to Anubis. "You claim to want him, and yet you have no problem threatening him with death!"

"It's like being in a coma. He'll survive... but I can't say the same for both of you!"

Barnes shielded Marion, who still held onto Anubis. Sedna raised her hands to create water swords. Then, suddenly, Sedna froze. Her pupils shortened, her body trembled, and her water swords flowed away. She dropped on her knees and cried. The humans had no idea what the sea goddess was doing until she fell face first onto the sand. They saw 600 different types of snakes, each sinking its fangs through Sedna's flesh and injecting her with all the venom they had. Medusa stood behind them, her energy drying out.

Medusa's genius idea involved using her snakes' thick heads to dig a tunnel underneath the river until they could sense the vibrations indicating where Sedna was located. Then, when Sedna was busy crying over her disfigured self, Medusa slithered her way out, and when Sedna was busy lethally harming everyone, she had her venomous snake hair bite Sedna.

They finally let go of Sedna. " _Well, that should have been a Midgard Serpent's worth of venom_."

The snake fangs were eventually released from Sedna's skin. The goddess lied on the sand, dead. Probably due to her death, the entirety of the river's water flushed out of the outfall. Barnes and Marion carried their weakened friends until they managed to climb onto a boat, previously stuck in the area and unable to sail. Finally, the Potomac was refilled. Nearby watchers, who had been filming the whole thing, applauded when they saw the Avengers sticking their heads out of the water.

"Dude! We just battled stuff I NEVER want to talk about ever again!" Falcon exclaimed.

Speaking of bird-themed man, Horus in his falcon form flew towards them and fished out Isis. He graciously dropped his mother onto the boat's deck and morphed into his human appearance.

"Mrs. Isis!" Marion cried. "Do something! Anubis is in trouble! Sedna did something to the Eye of Ra!"

"Oh no!" Isis rushed to her adoptive son.

"M... mother..." Anubis' breathing worsened.

She placed her hands on the Eye of Ra and recited.

 _Ra, morning and evening star._

 _Illuminate the land from afar_

 _So that your sun may ignite_

 _And liven your guardian into the light!_

The Eye of Ra opened wide and unleashed a reviving orange light. Anubis bolted himself up, wide awake as if he had just gotten a mouth-to-mouth with the power of a hundred energy drinks.

"Anubis!" Marion squeezed him in a hug.

"OW!" He yelped.

"Sorry." Marion softened her grip but still hugged him.

"Mother..." Horus gained Isis' attention.

"My son." She smiled and held her arms up. "You're alive!"

But Horus didn't budge. His eyes were stunned and he looked at his cousin, still in suffering. "Mother... what Sedna did to Anubis..."

Isis' eyes widened in sorrow.

 _Later, at the second GAMA headquarter location_

The agents had managed to easily set up their new headquarters underneath the National Mall, ensuring that the entrances could only be located in specific areas of the Archives. Spiderman had recovered just in time for Anubis to be brought in a gurney to a clinic in the Science Division. He got briefed on what happened by Tony, who gave him a big hug once he saw him.

And Spiderman was as pissed off as Horus.

"This doesn't make sense! I mean, sure, Osiris was an asshole for an uncle, but he was supposed to be the good guy compared to Seth!" Spiderman exclaimed. "Why the hell would he make a fail-safe spell that would give Anubis a heart attack?"

"He created that spell ever since Seth stole the Eye of Ra the first time," Isis said in guilt. She looked at her son, who angrily squeezed to dust the 56th cup of coffee he had drunk. "Horus, your father hoped to never have to use that spell..."

"Don't lie to me, mother!" Horus snapped angrily. "I can understand why Father was angry when Anubis was chosen instead of me, why he made me bully him, and why you favored him over me! But being willing to kill Anubis through Ra's gift?"

Isis said nothing.

Kory checked her watch. "I'd better get going. I still need to go talk to Him."

"I'll come with you," Horus got up.

"I already caused him enough trouble with my pagan father." Kory shook her head.

Horus still insisted. "I know He's just as powerful as the Infinity Stones. If he gave Anubis power over devastating plagues and gave your sister the power to free the Man of Spiders from corruption, surely he knows something about how to untether Anubis' link with the Eye of Ra."

"To make sure Anubis can still be guardian while also not having to worry about turning to dust if he takes it off?" Kory glared at Horus. "Surely you know that I don't believe your intentions."

Horus opened his mouth to insist, but Kory held out her hand to silence him. "My evil side already dared to abuse His gift for the sake of destroying Loki. I don't respect Loki very much, but I would never go as far as to break His law by committing patricide. I must go alone in my mortal, _monotheist_ self and beg his forgiveness." She turned her back on him and phased her way through the wall before finally disappearing.

"So... now what?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, for one I need to reach out to my paleontologist friend if the theory's true that Kali might go after her son," Zoë said.

"What's the kid's name?" Tony asked.

"Humberto."

"As in Humberto Lopez?"

Spiderman had asked this question, gaining the attention of all the adults.

"You know him?" Tony asked Spiderman.

"We used to go to the same middle school. While I went to Midtown, he went to Coles Academy High School in Jersey City. We still do occasional gaming nights..."

"Could you call him to ask him if he would like to catch up at your Aunt May's apartment?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that settles it. We talk to Jurassic boy about what might happen and we prevent Kali from touching him."

"But what about Anubis?" Thor asked.

"He's still alive, but heavily traumatized by the Sedna issue." Zoë shook her head. "Tiresias is putting him and Marion in another temporary leave... and this time, he's ordering them to stay there until Anubis is fully recovered... mentally."

"We should go with them." Isis stood up from her chair. "My brother already succeeded in sending Sedna to flood the first GAMA location. What if he succeeds in locating Anubis in Marion's home and he sends one of the plagues or the two gods?"

"Well you'd have to check with Tiresias. A mortal can only host one immortal unless there's a refugee sanctuary loophole." Zoë looked at Hera, Ishara, and Loki. "What about you three?"

"Yeah, he's staying with us!" Aaricia dragged Loki by the arm. "No way we're letting you on the loose!"

"At this rate, I don't think Ishara and I are in a rush to go back to the Mediterranean." Hera shook her head. "Besides, I could recreate my one-hundred eyed creature Argos to act as Anubis and Marion's bodyguard."

"Seems like a fine plan." Tony groaned. "I don't know how things could get worse."

 _Meanwhile_

Seth sat in his dark throne, pondering about the situation. His eyes gazed at the sarcophagus, where Nephtys' soul was still in the process of reincarnating in Sharon Carter's body. His ears were focused on the anger that Kali and Quetzalcoatl were lashing at each other.

"We lost Sedna!" Kali struggled to use her many arms to wipe away her flooding tears. "We lost Sedna! Because of a stupid fit of jealousy! THEY MUST ALL DIE!"

"And they will." Quetzalcoatl reassured her. He did his best to hold back the tears as he politely addressed Seth. "Forgive our display of weakness, but we are still recovering from the death of our friend. That mission you sent her to proved to be suicidal."

"And yet it has given me the information I need," Seth said.

"Hopefully that information will make the plan succeed!" Kali spat.

"It will." Seth waved his hand. "Go get that dinosaur child, Kali."

Kali angrily stormed off.

"Kali is still enraged about Sedna's death," Quetzalcoatl sighed. "Centuries of spending time together have led us to view Sedna as a sister."

"If only I knew that sibling bonding feeling, I would be giving you my condolences." Seth nodded. "Quetzalcoatl, what do you know of this mortal?"

Seth held out his hand. Dark sand moved and twisted to form a big orb. In the orb, the sand moved to form a sand statue of Marion.

"Her?" The Aztec deity frowned. "She's Anubis' mortal host and partner. They clearly have same-leveled emotions for one another, but it appears that Anubis denies his feelings out of desperation to protect her. In fact, he managed to resist by verbal manipulations offering to spare her. He must have known that if he agreed to join us for the sake of protecting her, she'd be angry with him for throwing his life away. He thinks highly of her."

"I see." Seth snapped his fingers and the sand orb disappeared. "She's clearly his weakness. Once you get the chance and find her alone, bring her here."

"Ah, the classic damsel in distress to lure in the hero!" Quetzalcoatl snickered.

"And my future daughter-in-law."

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me. The moment you kidnap Marion Romanson and bring her here, Anubis will follow to save her and escape will not be an option. Once he's in the pyramid, they'll be sealed in with us and we'll unleash the final plague. They'll survive." He stormed off his seat. "Ra made the mistake to have Osiris become the ancestor of the Egyptian pharaohs. Now _my_ lineage will be ruling the world! By the time I must move to the new afterlife, Anubis will succeed my kingly position. And I should be lucky enough if I see my grandchildren before I leave."

"Are you sure it's not a bit rush and you're certain you want a mortal for a daughter-in-law?" Quetzalcoatl asked quietly.

"Just go get her! Meanwhile, I'm going to check Hathor's ruined home! I must make plans for their wedding!"


End file.
